Return of the Bijuu
by Synica
Summary: Sequel to 'A Tail of Two Bijuu'. Naruto and co are back from their 4 year trip. What new adventures await them? NaruXOC, SasuXSaku, NejixTen and others! Discontinued.
1. Home Sweet Home

**A/N:** OMG! I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! Anyways, welcome to the second installment of the biju series. I'm going to do a small time skip from when the first story left off. I'll cover the bare minimum details of the time inbetween when the last story finished and when they get back to Konoha. Comments/Reviews from last chapter of the first story:

**White Alchemist Taya:** Yup, I'm a guy. My profile used to give a lot of info about me, but I decided since I started getting annonomous notes on my front door step demanding I leave a note telling them what happened next, I decided it's a good idea not to release such info... (I'm deadly serious. Someone in the area wants to know what will happen next chapter so badly that they leave annonomous notes. I personally find it amusing, but I wouldn't like a bunch of letters every few days demanding to know what happens. Like Ragnarok Online? Hell yes! I used to play on Sakray. If you did, you might have known me as either Specula or Strong In The Arm. Both of them were BS's. (BlackSmiths, for those of you unfamiliar with RO terminology.) Strong In The Arm was a pure battle Black Smith, while Specula was my first ever character, and ended up as a novelty character in some ways, due to the wonky spending of skill and attribute points. If you want, I'll show you a picutre that a good friend of mine drew for me. Some of her art made it to the loading screens frequently. Check my profile for it. Unfotunately, my computer had a nasty habit of corrupting RO every time it patched. I couldn't just redownload it, as the patch from the main RO site was screwed. I miss that game... Good times... Getting from 1 to 99 in 2 days of nothing but sleep... Thank Kami for LoD...

**NekoGuyFan:** If you reviewed every chapter, I'd have to get a restraining order on you... Nah, I'm joking. Well, thanks for your input. You put more in that you realise. Your story helped immensly with getting my story to be the way it is now, which is more than enough thanks. Catch you around, hmmm? I'm still looking forward to writing that bonus chapter with you. :P

**Solar Guardian:** Wow, I actually did give you two responses... Silly me. Anywho, thanks for the comments. Hope you read this one too.

**Conceptor:** YES! I've made the Godest chapter of them all! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Lol, thanks mate, catch you round.

**inu-youkess:** Lemon? Yup, but It'll be on their proper marriage night, which won't be for a little while yet. I'll post a REALLY toned down version on FF, while the full 'gorey' details will be on media miner... When I can get my god damn account working, that is...

**Grey Grog of the Leaf:** Thank you. But please... Don't explode... I hate losing fans :P

Btw, I've had to redo the first chapter because I forgot the main point of the chapter, which was to turn at least this chapter into a song fic, because I found a couple of songs that suit Naruto PERFECTLY. Also, I made a fix to the 'older brother' mistake. Without further ado, ON WITH THE SHOW!

As always, I hope my creativity gives you some semblance of pleasure to read.

Song Used: I am (All of me) by Crush 40.

Legend:

_'...Thoughts...'_

"...Japanese..."

"_...English..."_

_**'...Biju Thoughts...'**_

"**...Biju Talking in Japanese..."**

"_**...Biju Talking in English..."**_

**...Song Lyrics...**

**&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&**

The Return of The Bijus:

Chapter One:

Home Sweet Home:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**About Two Months Later, Near Konoha:**

It had been a rather eventful two months. The day after Naruto and Yukiko's Birthday/Engagement, everyone had gathered too see them off. Even Temujin and Renke had returned for a short one day stay to see them off. After the Militia's bodies had been identified, it was found out that their leader had been the actual temporary leader of the entire Militia forces. They had managed to squeeze one of the man's subordinates for information to find out that the real leader was on the verge of death from a strange illness that they had never seen before, and so his right hand man was appointed. Unfortunately for them, the new leader was greedy and power hungry, and decided to do a foolhardy attempt to take the capital. They further pressed him for the location of the Militia headquarters, and when he stubbournly refused, they called in Naruto, who asked the man if he wanted to meet Satan's right hand man. The man was on the verge of pissing his pants, but he held on. Naruto sighed and released the first demonic gate, causing the last of the man's resolve to crack, and he blurted out everything he knew about them, while wetting his pants. Naruto clenched his nose and gagged, before letting one of the previous interrigators take over. Haido the next day had thanked Naruto for all he had done for them. Eventually, they moved as a group towards the city's train station, where most of the people stayed behind, waving to them as the train pulled out and left for the port town they had arrived at. The journey by sea had proved very uneventful, making slightly better time then they had getting there. Once they reached the fishing village they had left from, Naruto was trembling, causing everyone to look at him. He had told them he was trembling from joy and sadness. They understood exactly how he felt. When the lowered the boat over the side of the ship and reached the docks, everyone was hesatant to get out. Eventually, Naruto turned to Renke, who had accompanied them and glomped her, causing her to stiffen slightly before returning the hug. Naruto looked up at her face with the beginnings of tears forming in his eyes. He whispered to her so that only his friends could hear, and not the people on the dock.

"_I'm really going to miss you... Renke-Oneechan."_

Renke stared wide eyed at Naruto before smiling at him.

"_I'm going to miss you too, Otouto..."_(did I get that right? Please tell me if I didn't...)

Renke had not picked up the entire Japanese language, but she had enough to get the general drift of the conversation, and she certainly remembered the talk she had with Naruto and his friends on the suffixes that could be attached to a person's name. Finially, Jiraiya decided it was time to go and pried Naruto off Renke. He smiled at her and waved.

"_It was nice to meet you Renke. If you ever come to the east, make sure to come to Konoha and tell them that I sent you. I'm sure they'll let you in."_

Rneke nodded and waved goodbye to all of them.

"_It was a pleasure to meet all of you. Gaara, do your best as a Kazekage. Hotaru. Put those healing techniques to good use. Sora, you make sure to take care of yourself. Yukiko, make sure Naruto doesn't do anything stupid. And Naruto? Become a good Hokage for me, will you?"_

They all beamed at her, as the guards started the boat again and went back to the main ship. They watched it dissapear over the horizon before turning to leave, where they saw everyone staring at them. One of them pointed a finger at them.

"You're... The group that went to the west, right?"

Jiraiya nodded, but held a hand up as people started firing questions at them, indicating for them to stop. He looked back up at them sternly.

"I cannot tell you anything. Everything we saw is a level S secret. It will be made known eventually, however, for now the information is too sensitive to give to you."

The villagers nodded dumbly as they made their way through the crowd and rushed off into the trees, desperate to head home. They had discussed exactly where everyone was going to go. Sora vehemently refused to go back to the Cloud, and Hotaru showed an interest in returning with them. After about a week's travel, they had made it to the front gates of Konoha. The guards looked at them suspiciously before they stepped forward.

"Names and reasons for visiting!"

**I see no, hear no evil...**

Naruto couldn't contain himself.

"This is the sort of welcome we get after being away on a four year mission? Give us a break, seriously."

**Black writing's on the wall...**

They eyed him suspiciously, before their eyes widened in suprise. They both smiled at the boy.

"Naruto? Is that you?"

**Unleash a million faces, and one by one they fall...**

Naruto nodded his head. The guard's smiled widened as he waved them through.

"Welcome back. There has been a lot of talk about you and Yukiko for the last several years. It seems that more and more people are beginning to accept you. I was the examiner for the preliminary matches of the Chunin exams, Genko Hayate. Remember me?"

Naruto racked his brains for the guy's name. Eventually, he recognised him and brightened considerably.

"Ah yeah! You were the guy that was always coughing, right?"

The guy nodded and laughed.

"Seems you do. Well, Hokage-Sama asked me to send you directly to him the moment you returned."

Naruto nodded and walked through the gates, completely content, however Yukiko was puzzled.

"Hayate-San, what did you mean by people's views of us are changing?"

Hayate smile widened as he turned towards her.

"It seems that all of your class mates have been putting in good words for you. Especially coming from the mouths of the Hyuga and Uchiha clan hiers, it slowly made an impact on people. Pretty much only the most pesemistic ones still have feelings of hatred towards you."

Yukiko nodded and turned to the others.

"Friends of yours?"

Yukiko nodded, and Hayate coughed, making Yukiko smile.

"Seems you still haven't gotten rid of it completely..."

Hayate smiled and waved them through.

"Best not to Keep Hokage-Sama waiting."

Yukiko nodded and went to catch up with Naruto with her friends trailing behind her. When she had almost caught up, she saw that Naruto was surrounded by a very ravenous looking group of girls, who all seemed to be looking at him in a way that was reserved only for her. She stepped through them and took Naruto's arm showing her hand to them.

"Sorry, girls. He's taken by yours truly."

They stared at the ring on her ring finger, then back at her in disbelief. Naruto sighed and held up his hand, showing his ring.

"Sorry ladies, I wouldn't trade her for anyone. I'll catch you round!"

With that, Naruto and Yukiko body flickered onto the other side of the group. Gaara and the others were waiting on the other side for them so they could proceed into the Hokage's office. Once the people saw Jiraiya, they quickly let them though. Finally, they stood in front of the door, and noticed that it was open. They heard a soft 'come in' eminate from inside. Once they stepped inside, they saw Sarutobi sitting there with a massive grin plastered on his face, making huge wrinkles appear all over his face. Time hadn't been kind to him. Naruto threw himself at the Hokage and yelled out his pet name for him.

"Old Man!"

The 'old man' in question was surprised to see a bundle of sun kissed spikes to greet his face when he looked at the limpet that had attached itself to his body. Naruto turned his head upwards to smiled at him. Sarutobi nearly fainted when he saw Naruto's face, thinking Arashi had come back from the grave to haunt him. The Sandaime stuttered trying to work out who exactly this person was.

**Black hearted evil, or...**

"Naruto?"

The boy smiled wider, revealing his fangs. Sarutobi really did faint this time, taking Naruto with him as they hit the floor. Naruto untangled himself from the old man, checking his vitals. He was still alive, and Naruto looked up sheepishly at his group.

"He... Just fainted..."

They chuckled at this and Naruto used the water from a jug on the Hokage's table to make a tiny version of a Suiton: Teppodama no Jutsu. This woke the Hokage up immediately, who spluttered from the water invading his respiratory system. He looked up to see Naruto there smiling, fangs and all. Sarutobi choked on some of the water.

"What's wrong old man? Never seen fangs before?"

**Brave hearted hero...**

The Hokage took in all of Naruto. He had changed a lot from when he had left. Naruto now had an air of confidence around him, but not the sort like people such as Hyuga Neji used to have. It was the sort of confidence aura that was given off by someone who had seen both the best and the worst the world had to offer. He now lacked the large amount of baby fat that he used to have on his face. His face had a much more mature look to it. His wisker marks had darkened and his eyes showed a range of emotions. His normally circular pupils were now shaped like those of a cat or a snake. Then Sarutobi noticed the ring on his finger and stared at Naruto in disbelief.

"Naruto? You're..."

"Married? Not yet, we're still engaged. And NO, I didn't forget about the rule you set us."

The Hokage sighed in relief before getting up and sitting back in his chair. He took a puff of his pipe as he closed his eyes in thought. Obviously, some things never change. They made small talk for a while before they got down to business. Sarutobi made them tell him exactly what had happened in the west. Once they had finished, he sighed, processing all of the information. He looked up at them and smiled.

"As expected from the east's brightest future ninjas. Don't worry about telling me about the rest of your trip just yet. You can write it in a report from each of you and give it to me by the end of the week. However, right now, I think you should get some rest. Kazekage-Dono, would you like to stay in Naruto's house?"

Gaara raised an eyebrow.

"Naruto's house? The Yondaime Hokage's old place?"

Sarutobi nodded.

"I'd love to. However, I would also like to get back to Suna as soon as possible. I would like possibly a day's rest before leaving though."

The Hokage nodded, before turing to Sora and Hotaru.

"Do either of you want to become leaf ninjas? I'm sure we could use a few more people with your personalities to compliment our ranks. People who have been subjected to as much as you have and turned out to be sane come very rarely."

Sora couldn't believe it. She was allowed to stay. Before she had a chance to answer, Hotaru shook her head.

"I'd love to, Hokage-Sama, but I'm going back with Gaara to Suna."

Everyone raised an eyebrow at this. Obviously, Gaara and Hotaru's relationship had been developing behind closed doors.. After a little more small talk was made, Sarutobi let them go. Once they got outside, they were walking down the street. Most people stared at them in obvious unrecognition as to who they were. Naruto looked up when he heard some strangely familiar voices. He saw the remains of Team 7 walking towards them, however, they had not noticed them. Naruto stopped and made a hand signal to get onto the roof of a nearby shop. They body flickered up there, watching as they walked by chatting. They had obviously not detected Naruto, so he decided to call out to them.

"Surely you guys must have detected me by now?"

Team Seven stopped and stared at the person the voice had come from. They squinted against the midday sun, trying to make out who it was. Suddnely, Kakashi's eyes widened.

"Na... Naruto?"

Naruto smiled and gave a thumbs up.

"Yup. Good to see you, Kakashi-Sensei."

**I am all, I am all, I am...**

Sasuke and Saskura could not contain their joy to see their brother had returned. Sakura squeeled while Sasuke broke out into a laugh as they both jumped onto the roof and tackled him to the ground. Naruto laughed as well.

"Good to see you two, Sasuke, Sakura-Chan."

Sasuke and Sakura got up, letting Naruto get up after them. He took in how much they had changed. Sakura looked exactly like she did in the manga after the time skip 'Don't make me explain it...', while Sasuke had stayed in pretty much the same clothes, however, his hair was now slightly longer, giving him a much more mature look. Kakashi smiled and waved to catch their attention.

"We were about to go to Ichiraku's. Want to come?"

Naruto's eyes lit up at the mention of ramen. He nodded his head furiously. The group walked down the street towards Naruto's favorite food stand in Konoha. Naruto had introduced his team mates and sensei to both Hotaru and Sora, who smiled and shook their hands. Once they reached the infamous ramen stand Naruto stopped and let his jaw hang open.

"You sure this is Ichiraku's? It's... Bigger..."

Sakura chuckled.

"It is, but the Uzumaki Naruto contest had provided the place with a lot of potential challengers. Needless to say, not one of them have ever come close."

Naruto, Yukiko and Sora laughed at this, knowing how impossible it was to beat that record unless you were Naruto himself. They walked into the stand turned restruant and were greeted by Ayame. She smiled at Sakura and Sasuke, who were apparently regulars. She turned and looked at the others with interest.

**Go ahead and tryto see through me...**

"Who are your friends, Sakura-Chan?"

Naruto pouted and mock sulked.

"I can't belive you, Ayame-Neechan! How could you forget your number one customer?"

Ayame's eyes widened and her jaw went slack. She managed enough to recover to ask the question everyone had asked him so far since he'd gotten back.

**Do it if you dare...**

"Naruto-Kun? Is that you?"

Naruto nodded furiously and smiled his trademark foxy grin, letting Ayame know right away that it was indeed him. She ran at him and hugged him in a bone crushing hug. Naruto gasped at the lack of breath that would enter his body when he tried to breath.

"Ayame...Neechan... Can't... Breathe..."

Ayame released Naruto and smiled sheepishy at him. She called out to the kitchen where everyone suspected the old man was at work.

"Otosan! Naruto's here!"

The was a clatter of metal before old man Teuchi came bursting out of the kitchen. He stared at Naruto before he broke out into a grin.

"Naruto! It's good to see you again! Please, have a seat!"

Naruto smiled and took a seat along with his friends. The old man turned to Naruto and smiled.

"What can I get for my favorite customers?"

Naruto looked over the list before his eyes settled on a new addition to the menu. His eyes raised in disbelief.

"Naruto... Special?"

Ayame smiled.

"Yup. It's a bowl about twice the size of a normal one with twice the amount of things in it."

Naruto smiled and chuckled.

"One Naruto Special please!"

The old man smiled at Naruto before he turned to the others. Yukiko answered.

"Could I get a Naruto Special too, please?"

Everyone seemed to order the same thing. When they got to Kakashi, he still seemed to be deciding, so Naruto smiled and reached into his pocket.

"Neh, Kakashi-Sensei. If you show us your actual face, I'll give you this."

Naruto held out an orange book. However, this one was not the Icha Icha Paradise that Kakashi had seen before. This one was the next in the series.

"That... That is..."

Kakashi could be seen quivering from nearly unsupressed excitement. Naruto laughed mentally. Kakashi was taking the bait hook, line and sinker. Kakashi tried to reach out and grab it, but Naruto pulled his hand away.

**One step forward, two steps back...**

"The fourth book of the series, 4 years in the making. Icha Icha Tactics. A pre-release copy signed by the great man himself."

Naruto opened up the front cover to emphasise his point. Kakashi sighed and slumped in defeat.

"So you want to see what's under my mask?"

Naruto shook his head, causing the others to stare at him in confusion.

"I'm not about to forget what was 'under the mask' which you showed about half the village the day we left."

Yukiko, Sakura and Sasuke remembered and banged their heads on the bench before replying in unison.

"Another mask..."

Naruto nodded.

"I'll give you the book if you show me your REAL face."

Kakashi sighed and began pulling his mask down. Naruto quickly scanned the area to make sure that there was no one around who would interfere. When he was satisfied, he turned back to notice that Kakashi had dragged the layers of masks half way down his nose. He dragged it down further, revealing a nose. No big deal, it was a normal nose. Dragging it further revealed normal cheekbones. Further destroyed the previous theories of fish lips or horse teeth. Further still revealed...

"A double chin? That's why you hide your face?"

Naruto blurted this out, and Kakashi quickly pulled his masks back up nodding while smiling, holding his hand out for his prize. Naruto begrudgingly handed him the book, watching as Kakashi slipped it into his pocket before turning back to the old man.

"A bowl of the usual please."

The man smiled and went to preparing what was needed.

"Ok! 7 bowls of Naruto Special and one Legendary Recipe coming up!"

At that point, Naruto, Yukiko and Hotaru's senses picked up a distant rumbling. They stiffened up and swivelled around, looking for the source of the disturbance. Sasuke raised an eyebrow in question.

**I'm here...**

"Something wrong?"

The distant rumbling was now becoming loud enough for everyone else to hear. Sakura smiled.

"Seems they found out..."

At that moment, a cloud of dust came around the corner of a building down the street. Naruto heared shouts of 'there they are!' and such. Someone shot out of the cloud to reveal a green blur, which stopped right in between Naruto and Yukiko and began shouting.

"NARUTO-KUN! YUKIKO-SAN! IT'S GREAT TO SEE THAT YOU HAVE RETURNED TO OUR ABODE WITH THE BURNING PASSION OF YOUTH SO STRONG! IT'S AN EXAMPLE TO US ALL!"

By this time, Naruto, Yukiko and Hotaru were all howling in pain as they fell to the floor clutching their heads, curling up into a fetal position. Our favorite green spandex wearing Taijutsu master looked down at them with a sweat drop on the back of his head. Sakura's eye twitched as she turned to Lee.

**Can you see all of me?...**

"Lee-San, do you remember when in our first Chunin exam, that sound guy used his sound attack on you?"

Lee nodded, not understanding where this was going.

"Their hearing is so strong that your voice was the equivalent of that attack to them."

Lee winced at the memory of the pain. By this time, everyone else had arrived to see the spectacle before them. Kiba laughed light heartedly.

"What's with them? Did Lee's speech reach a new level of corniness that they're suffering physical pain from?"

Sasuke sighed.

"No, it was the volume at which he said his speech. Their hearing is hyper sensitive."

**Walk into my mystery...**

Kiba smiled his bad boy wolfish grin and walked over to Naruto, when Naruto opened his eyes to see who it was, he saw someone that smelt very much like Kiba and Akamaru, but Naruto couldn't see the puppy anywhere. However, there was a massive dog there which Kiba was on top of, which smelt like Akamaru. Naruto slowly got up, helping Yukiko up and then Hotaru. Everyone was shocked at Naruto's physical appearance. Before he left, he was easily the shortest of all the guys, now, he was at least a good half a head taller than any of them, standing at 6' 2". Naruto smiled at them all and raised a hand in greeting.

"Hey everyone. Good to see you again."

They chatted amongst themselves, finding out about what had happened to them over the past 4 years. Finally, Sakura decided to take the plunge and ask the big question.

"So, Yukiko-Chan. Are you and Naruto still dating?"

Yukiko smiled at her.

"Oh no, no, no."

The remainder of Team Seven raised their eyebrows at this. Naruto put his arm around Yukiko, showing off his ring.

"We're engaged."

**Step inside and hold on for dear life...**

Sasuke choked on the water he was sipping while Sakura fainted. Kakashi's eye's widened in complete and utter disbelief. Everyone else face faulted. They managed to recover and they screamed in unison.

"NANI!"

Naruto, Yukiko and Hotaru covered their ears and gritted their teeth in pain, willing the painful ringing in their ears to go away. Sora sighed.

"It's probably not a good idea to scream in their ears. They have hearing that puts a dog's to shame."

Sakura blushed, while Sasuke sweat dropped. Kakashi did his usual irritatingly laid back smile. While the others mumbled their appologies The rest of the time, Naruto asked what ranks everyone had attained. Sasuke smiled a warm friendly smile.

"Every single one of the Rookie 10 and Team Gai have made at least Chunin. Some of us have made it to Jounin already. Neji is also trying out for the next ANBU exams."

Naruto smiled his trademark foxy grin, before he turned to Sakura.

**Do you remember me?...**

"So, Sakura-Chan, that means you're a Chunun too?"

Sakura giggled and nodded, holding her hands out in a peace/victory sign. Naruto hugged her.

"Congratulations, Sakura-Chan! I knew you could do it!"

Sakura blushed at the lavish praise, before Hotaru smiled at them.

"So, any reason you didn't take the Jounin exam?"

Sasuke smiled.

"Yeah. We didn't want to do it without our former team mates. In fact, all the others who haven't become Jounin yet have waited for your return so we could all enter together, just like old times."

**Capture you or set you free...**

Shikamaru formed a half smile.

"It was troublesome, but it would probably have been worth it."

Naruto pulled back and looked at Sasuke and then Shikamaru with tears in the corners of his eyes. Sakura nodded sagely.

"We weren't going to take the exam without our brother and sister, however, we still need one more with us to join the exam..."

Naruto smiled a toothy grin.

"I'm sure Sora wouldn't mind participating with us, if you guys let her."

Everyone looked towards Sora, who was smiling sheepishly at the attention. Sasuke smiled.

**I am all, I am all of me...**

"Anyone who saves my brother as many times as you have is more than welcome on our team."

Sakura nodded in agreement. Kakashi smiled and tilted his head to the side.

"Well, it's settled then. Team Seven is now reformed, and with the addition of Sora, I'm sure you guys will all pass the exam with flying colours."

Kakashi kept smiling before Naruto smirked and pointed to the sky.

"Looks like the old man is calling you, Kakashi-Sensei."

Kakashi looked up to see that a messenger bird had just arrived and began circling the restraunt. Kakashi looked at Naruto with one of his 'hip' smiles, as Gai would call them and waved as he left. Calling over his shoulder.

"Naruto, Yukiko. You've both grown to be fine young ninjas. Naruto, you remind me of your father so much it's not funny. I'll catch you guys in the usual spot tomorrow morning at 7am. And this time, I'll be there on time, promise."

With that, Kakashi took to the rooves, leeping towards the Hokage Tower, leaving Naruto to smile at his back the whole way.

"Just like my father..."

**I am all of me!**

Everyone was looking at Naruto who was staring off into the distance with a dreamy expression on his face. They all understood how much those four words meant to him. Naruto turned back to them with a smile so wide, that few of them had seen in along time, showing he was genuinely content with the way things were in the world. They chatted for a while, before Sakura put her arm around Sasuke, which he didn't resist. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Getting closer are we?"

Sasuke gave a mock scowl and Sakura blushed but nodded. Yukiko smiled.

"Which reminds me, is anyone else going out?"

Ino nodded. This was one area she specialised in, gossip.

"Well, Sasuke and Sakura were among the first to pair up. They got together about a year after you left. I'm currently going out with Chouji. Temari is in a somewhat bizzare relationship that doesn't exactly fit the boyfriend/girlfriend category, but that's the closest I can get to it. Hinata seems to have given up on her crush on you she had during the academy, and has taken a real interest in Shino. Also, Neji is currently dating Tenten. The only two of the former Rookie 10 and Team Gai who aren't dating either at all or seriously are Lee and Kiba. Kiba is scoring a lot of dates but he isn't the type to settle for one girl. Lee on the other hand..."

Naruto laughed waving a hand indicating she didn't have to finish.

"I can guess. They're afraid of the eyebrows and the talks of 'burning passion of youth' right?"

Everyone but Lee laughed, who sulked. Naruto put his hand on Lee's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Lee. It's just that most people are not used to seeing such... Passion at random intervals."

Everyone nodded and Lee brightened up considerably. They all shared a bowl before they began to pay however, Old Man Teuchi waved them off.

"This is on the house, as an engagement gift for my number one customers."

Naruto gave the man a thumbs up.

"Thanks old man!"

Teuchi smiled as they left the restraunt watching them walk off into the afternoon sunlit streets.

**I am all of me.**

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** Yay! First chapter finished! Sorry if it's a bit shorter than usual, but I promise they'll get longer! I'll upload this right away. MY BURNING PASSION OF YOUTH IS AN EXAMPLE TO US ALL!.. Or something... Until next time, my avid readers!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	2. Jounin Exams, Part 1

**A/N:** Ok, time for the second installment. I'll get straight onto the questions/comments/reviews:

**Conceptor:** YES! GODLY WRITER! Thanks :P

**Sabboth:** Yeah, I was starting to think something was wrong with his brain. I thought Lee and Gai had some sort of Uber Rare uncurable disease that turns you into a shouting, hyperactive, green spandex wearing retard. Just my two cents, but eh. Thanks for picking me up on that too.

**Solar Guadian:** Glad you enjoy it.

**MagusKyros:** Thanks.

**Naruto's-Shandow:** Thank you. Good to hear you'll keep reading.

**catastophy:** Thanks. Glad you like the pic. Saya's a very tallented girl, as I have told her many times. If you're reading this Saya, HALLO!

**Grey Grog of the Leaf:** You went hyper while reading my fic? O.o Ok, well good to see you enjoy it.

**Shinku Naito:** Oh Kami, that was even more... Gai/Lee like then they are... 'Shudders'...

**NekoGuyFan:** Yo, don't feel pressured because I update at inhumane speed. I have all day every day to write these, unlike you, which gives me a huge advantage. The majority of my time is split 50/50 between 'information gathering' of the non perverted kind, mainly research, and the other 50 is spent writing. Update only when you're sure it won't impact on your education. I made the mistake of doing the exact opposite, and ended up with only decent grades in the finals with practically no study, and now I'm paying for it.

**White Alchemist Taya:** Knights are cool. I used to be able to kick knight's asses all the time, except for my guild's main tank, he was a monster of a knight. Genko Hayate did die in the anime, however, in my story, all the Jounins were informed of it, and Kabuto had already escaped Orochimaru's clutches, meaning the meeting never took place, meaning there was no one to spy on. After seeing episode 101 of the anime, are you sure that Kakashi has a normal face? Especially after the way that Ayami and Teuchi looked at him? Also, I'm definitely going to refrain from doing anything Lee-like again.

**God in a box:** Lol, being annoyed by your brother? I know EXACTLY how you feel. Tell me, is your brother younger or older than you? My younger brother's a pain in the ass.

BTW, Prepare to see everyone's favorite jutsu this chapter, but used in ways you never immagined possible. If you don't think it fits in this story, too bad. I think it suited the moment perfectly.

As always, I hope my creativity gives you some semblance of pleasure to read.

Legend:

_'...Thoughts...'_

"...Japanese..."

"_...English..."_

_**'...Biju Thoughts...'**_

"**...Biju Talking in Japanese..."**

"_**...Biju Talking in English..."**_

**&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&**

The Return of The Bijus:

Chapter Two:

Jounin Exams, Part 1:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning, at the Hokage's Office:**

Just before addressing the Chunins who had assembled, Sarutobi had assessed Sora's skills and decided to register her as a Chunin, just to make sure that Team Seven could compete in the Jounin Exams. After this, the Hokage entered the waiting room and stood in front of all the hopeful Jounin exam applicants. All Chunins, reguardless of whether or not they wanted to take the exam or not were required to attend. Around the edge of the room were the Chunin's former Senseis. Yukiko looked at the Jounins and noticed a few new ones. One of which caught her immediate attention. He had white hair, with a rather lanky body and he wore glasses. He looked at Yukiko, smiled and waved. Yukiko couldn't contain herself any more and latched herself onto him, causing him to grin sheepishly at the attention he was gathering from the others. Yukiko disentangled herself and smiled at him before going back to Naruto's side, waving as she did, mouthing 'we'll catch up later', to which Kabuto nodded. The Hokage began adressing them.

"Greetings ladies and gentlemen. As you know, the yearly Jounin exams are upon us again. I would like to know if you wish to compete this year. I presume that the former Rookie 10 won't compete this year-"

At this point, the Hokage was interrupted by Naruto.

"Oi! Who said we weren't competing, old man? Everyone was waiting for us to get back so we could compete."

This caused murmurs to start. They had not competed since they got the rank of Chunin. Was this really the reason they were not competing the past 4 years? Eventually, the murmurs died down, and the Hokage looked to the three former rookie 10 jounin senseis.

"Do you agree to let them participate?"

Each of them nodded, and the Hokage's assistant scribbled the names down on his clipboard. Once the other Chunin team had been taken account of, the Hokage nodded and took a drag of his pipe.

"For those of you who do not know how the Jounin exam works, or for those of you who want a refresher, I will explain. There will be two parts to the exam this year. The first part is always a local test to see if your team is up to scratch. The second test is exactly like the final test of the Chunin exam; namely, a battle royal in front of a stadium full of very important people. However, this battle will be done in teams of five instead of one on one. The first test we use is watching over this semester's first Chunin test, which will be held in a week from today. I'm sure you all remember the assistants that were used to check if you were cheating? Those 'assistants' will be you this year. We will not make our marking system public, but we will let you know by the end of the test if you will be allowed to pass onto the finals. The judges will decide who becomes a Jounin in the finals. Be warned, only 10 of all entrants will be promoted, and it will not necessaraliy be a whole team. Are there any questions?"

Narturally, Naruto's hand shot up and the Hokage sighed.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Do we have to wear those stupid grey jumpsuits?"

Naruto's friends snickered at this attempted ice breaker. The Hokage sighed and took another drag, making Yukiko wonder about his health.

_'I'm surprised he hasn't died from the effects of chain smoking yet...'_

"Yes Naruto, you have to wear them."

Yukiko was brought out of her line of thought by the Hokage dismissing them when he saw there were no more questions. They had the rest of the week off to train/rest or whatever. Naruto motioned Sakura and Sasuke over to him and they walked out of the Hokage's office towards their old training area. Naruto looked thoughtful.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?"

Yukiko, Sasuke and Sakura nodded in agreement. Finally, Naruto turned to his team while removing some things from his pocket.

"Guys, when we were in the west, we got armour parts that will respond only to your chakra or someone who doesn't have a hostile intent towards you. While we were getting ours made, we managed to get some for you. The guy who made them was really smart, and he was somehow able to figure out the differences between your chakra and mine by our descriptions. Sakura-Chan. This is yours."

Sakura caught an object wrapped in cloth that Naruto lightly tossed to her. She looked at Naruto in question before he smiled, giving her the signal to unwrap it. Once she had, she saw an odd piece of silver metal that had a very natural shaped curve to it. She flipped it over to see the main part of it was almost shaped like a rectangular pyramid, ending in a lime green lense of some sort. She looked at Naruto in confusion, who smiled.

"It's a Genjutsu amplifier and dampener. It will amplify your own Genjutsus and dampen enemy ones. I remember you had really good Genjutsu capaeabilities before we left, so I was kinda counting on the fact that you developed them further. Try it."

Sakura raised it to her eye and gave an 'eeep' as it made a sucking noise when it stuck to her head. Naruto laughed at her.

"It's ok, Sakura-Chan. It's just clamping itself to your head so it won't fall off. If you want to get it off, just do what you would to dispell a Genjutsu. The guy who made them for us said you would understand how it works when you try it."

Sakura decided to try a simple Genjutsu, and was supriosed at the fact that it only needed a quarter of the chakra she regularly needed to do it, while still maintaining the effectiveness of the normal version. She stopped it and stared at Naruto in shock.

"They have these sort of things in the west?"

Sora shook her head.

"All of these pieces are pretty much one of a kind. Prototypes, if you will. However, they work perfectly."

Sakura nodded dumbly, as Naruto turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke. Picking a piece for you was damn hard. I finally narrowed it down to two pieces. A gauntlet like mine, or a Genjutsu piece like Sakura's. Eventually, I figured it would be more practical to get you a specialised Genjutsu headpiece which specialised in fighting the Mangekyou Sharingan. I described the effects to the guy who made ours, and he was baffled at what I described and went researching the records of all Genjutsu users in the west. The weird thing was there was a Genjutsu user who had the ability to warp time in the target's mind and do things simmilar to the Mangekyou Sharingan about 160 years ago. Luckily, all Genjutsu users in the west since Kami-Sama knows when were required to explain to the research institute how their Genjutsu worked before they were allowed to use it because of an incident that is top secret that involved Genjutsu going wrong. This allowed the guy to make a Genjutsu headpiece specifically for when we kick your brother's ass. It can still work with normal Genjutsu, but just wait 'till you try it on Itachi."

Naruto handed another headpiece to Sasuke. However, unlike Sakura's, this piece was pitch black, and it had a crimson red lense. Sasuke smiled at Naruto and hugged him.

"You really know how to choose the right presents for others, don't you Naruto?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly as Sasuke pulled back and Sakura latched on.

"Thank you so much, Naruto. I've been training with a lot of people after you left; Kabuto-Sensei trained me in medical techniques, while Kurenai-Sensei and Anko-Sensei trained me in Genjutsu. This is perfect."

Naruto nodded and hugged Sakura back. He looked around to see Gaara nad Hotaru approaching. Naruto waved to them as they joined up, and they began talking about everything and nothing at the same time. Finally Gaara stood up, causing everyone to look at him.

"I've asked the Hokage if we can leave for Suna by midday. I've also requested that you all come with us to see us off, to which he agreed to."

Naruto jumped up and ran off, yelling things like 'what are we waiting for?' and 'let's go!'. Everyone sighed as they headed to pack their things up and get ready to leave.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**About Midday, at the South Gate:**

Naruto and his friends had assembled to escort Gaara and Hotaru home. Once they had left, they set a good pace towards Suna, reaching it in 3 days. When they were there, they saw that Kankuro, Temari and Baki had come out to meet them. Obviously, the Hokage had told them when to expect them. Gaara ran at Temari and latched onto her, which caught everyone but Naruto, Yukiko, Hotaru and Sora by suprise. Gaara looked up and smiled at Temari.

"It's good to see you again, Temari."

Temari nodded dumbly, still trying to accept that her brother had initiated a HUG. Gaara turned to Kankuro and smiled.

"Good to see you to, Kankuro."

Gaara settled for a hand shake for Kankuro, before he turned to Baki.

"Baki-Sensei. I trust you are well?"

The sand siblings and Baki were now more confused than ever. Temari turned to Naruto and glanced at him fearfully.

"What did you do to our brother?"

Naruto smiled a very toothy grin at them, causing them to raise their eyebrows.

"Well, you wanted me to bring him out of his shell, so I did. Trust me, you haven't seen half of it yet."

Gaara smirked at them.

"Oh, by the way, I'd advise you not to turn around."

For some strange reason, their minds made them turn around, only to cop an exploding paint can in the face, which Naruto, Gaara, Yukiko, Hotaru and Sora laughed at. Everyone else was completely stunned at the fact that Gara had pulled a prank. Gaara gave Naruto a high five.

"That's another 20 points to me, Naruto. I'm catching up."

Naruto chuckled.

"You still have a long way to go until you catch up with the king of pranks, Gaata."

At this point, Temari turned around, litterally FUMING at Naruto.

"WHAT. DID. YOU. DO. TO. GAARA!"

Naruto laughed.

"Be careful what you ask others to do. When you asked me to pull him out of his shell, I found that like me, he was a natural born prankster. Naturally, I developed it to rival my own-"

At this point, Naruto felt three sets of killer intent washing over him. Naruto sweat dropped and decided right about now would be a good time to run, however, before he had a chance, Hotaru sighed and walked over to Gaara, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm actually rather thankful Naruto did that. Otherwise, Gaara would still be unreachable."

Gaara smiled as Hotaru hugged him, causing the still surprised people to practically faint. Naruto grinned and chuckled.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to say that I completed the other part of your request to. I managed to get him out of his shell enough so that he could find a girl he likes."

Temari sighed. She begrudingly admitted that Naruto had done everything she had asked him to do, down to the letter. However, she made a silent promise to herself to watch how she worded her requests to Naruto from now on. She sighed as she looked over herself. Yukiko giggled and looked at them with an innocent smile that her friends knew hid very uninnocent intentions.

"Would you like me to get rid of the paint? Cleaning up after Naruto's and Gaara's pranks meant I had to learn Jutsus to help deal with the mess."

The three of them nodded, and Yukiko began forming hand seals before announcing her technique.

"Suiton: Teppodama!"

Yukiko shot three large, but weak blobs of water at each of them, completely drenching them. As she had said, it removed the paint perfectly, but it left them completely soaked. Naruto, Gaara and Hotaru laughed at the spectacle while Yukiko and Sora resorted to giggling. Temari growled as she detached the fan from her back, making everyone alert. She spread it open and released a gust of wind at them. Naruto and his friends body flickered out of the way. Gaara and Hotaru arrived by Baki's side while Naruto and his friends were a safe distance away. Naruto waved and yelled out to them.

"We'll see you two at the Jounin Exams, right? I would come and shake your hands, but I think your sister wants to kill us right now. See you soon!"

With that, they ran off back towards the direction of Konoha, leaving a fuming Kankuro, Baki and Temari to stomp back into the village. Naruto turned to his friends and smiled at them.

"Wait for it... Wait for it..."

Sakura and Sasuke looked at him like he had just sprouted another head, but then they all heard what Naruto had been expecting.

"**NANI! WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T DO THE PAPER WORK!"**

They were a fair distance away from Suna by now, but due to the sheer volume of the voice, they could tell that Gaara was VERY peeved. They turned back to see the giant Tanuki towering over Suna staring intently at one particular place.

"**YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT? I DON'T CARE! PREPARE FOR YOUR PUNISHMENTS!"**

Naruto saw that the Tanuki was forming a tora seal. Naruto thought for a second before he broke out into a barely suppressed giggle, knowing exactly what was coming next. There was a gleam in the Tanuki's eye as he announced his technique.

"**KONOHAGURE INSEN TAIJUTSU OGI: SENNIN GOROSHI!"**

Naruto, Sora and Yukiko laughed so hard they lost their footing and landed face first in the sand as they saw a tiny black speck fly into the distance after the Tanuki launched him with the 'Uber Super Ass Poke'. They started rolling around laughing to their heart's content at the spectacle. Sakura looked at them, not understanding what was so funny about it, but actually thinking it was rather disturbing. Sure it was slightly amusing, but was it really this funny? Sora turned to Sakura.

"We...HAHAHAHA... We made a bet... Whether Kankuro and Temari had done the paper work by the time we got back... HAHAHAHAHA... We all bet against Hotaru and Gaara... If they won, we'd clean the public Konoha bathrooms for a week. If they lost... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... They had to clean the Suan ones for a week... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Sasuke and Sakura burst into laughing besides them. Eventually, they managed to recover enough to slowly limp back to Konoha due to a lack of breath from the laughing fit. Soon enough, they had recovered enough to set the same pace they had come to Suna with.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Day of the Chunin/Jounin Exams:**

Everyone from Konoha who was participating in the Jounin exams were waiting ot see who the first examiner would be. After a while, the doors opened and they saw the examiner walk in. Everyone was surprised. The man wore a white Gi, black kilt and had long black hair with only the last part of it tied together by a piece of material. However, his most shocking appearance was his eyes. Pure lavender eyes. Naruto laughed, recognising the man immediately.

"They couldn't have picked a better person if they tired. Going to give them another of your speeches on fate, eh Neji?"

Neji smiled and laughed with Naruto and his friends.

"Indeed. If you ladies and gentlemen wouldn't mind, I'd like to get this underway. I assume you've all been breifed on what you can and cannot do?"

They all nodded and Neji motioned everyone to come to where he was. They lined up behind Neji in two rows. They all formed half a ram seal and 'poof'ed next door where the Genin were. Neji shouted out to the Genin to catch their attention, not that any of them hadn't noticed the huge explosion of smoke at the front of the room already.

"My appologies for keeping you waiting. Everyone line up and take one of these tabs and sit in the place the tab shows. You have 2 minutes to do so. Those of you who have not reached your seat by this time will be failed along with your teams! MOVE IT!"

The Genin predictably scrambled to grab a number, but managed to somehow maintain some form of order. Once they had all taken their seats, Neji noticed they had 3 seconds left to spare. He smiled cold heartedly at them.

"My name is Hyuga Neji, and I will be your examiner for the first test. There are some basic ground rules that you WILL follow at all times. I will explain these only once, so shut up and listen. I will write them on the board as I say them. Remember, if you question me or my fellow examiners, I will fail you and your team IMMEDIATELY!"

By now, the majority of the Genin were quivering in fear. Neji began writing the rules up on the board. The rules were exactly the same as the Chunin test they had all taken together. He turned back to them and stared at them, grinning evilly. By now, the other Chunin in the room had taken their seats as Neji explained the final rule.

"As you know, you have 10 points. Each time you're caught cheating, we will subtract two points from your score."

Naruto nodded and grinned sadistically at them, deciding to scare them a little more.

"Remember, we see EVERYTHING you do."

Naruto, Yukiko, Sasuke and Hinata opened their eyes to reveal they had engauged their Doujutsus. The Genini now were completely scared out of their minds. Neji tapped the chalk on the board and smiled evily at them.

"You have 45 minutes to complete the first nine questions. BEGIN!"

Not a single student failed to comply. Right of the bat, Naruto caught someone cheating, and marked it down on his paper. Soon enough, Naruto had caught someone cheating five times. Naruto picked a Kunai out of his pocket and hurled it at the boys, paper, causing everyone to stop and stare. The boy stood up.

"What... What the hell are you doing?"

Naruto grinned showing off his fangs.

"I caught you cheating five times. You and your teammates fail. Get out."

The man obviously had some fight left in him as he sneered at him.

"Prove it."

Naruto laughed.

"**As you wish, gaki."**

Nartuo charged forward and picked the boy up, continuing without breaking his stride and slamming the boy into the wall, causing a crater. Everyone was on the verge of losing their sanity as they saw the waves of blood red chakra rolling off the Chunin.

"**I'm a Chunin. This is a tiny fraction of the power I can bring out. If you think you have what it takes to be a Chunin, then do you think you can match up against my friends and me? If not, then leave. If you are foolhardy enough to think you can, then I'll show you how weak you really are."**

Naruto let the boy slump to the floor when the boy made no move to attack. Naruto checked his clipboard, letting his chakra fade away. He looked up.

"Number 37. Fail. Numbers 41 and 120 Fail also."

Naruto returned to his seat. Shortly after, Yukiko pointed to a boy from the Grass village.

"Number 15. Fail. Numbers 78 and 94 fail too."

The room was quickly losing it's occupants. The test still had 10 minutes to go and there was only 13 teams left. The others were good enough to cheat without being as painfully obvious as the others. The Chunins knew what they were allowed to define as cheating and what they couldn't, so they let it slide. Finally, 45 minutes had passed and Neji tapped the chalk board again.

"It's time for the final question. However, you must decided if you want to take it."

One girl shouted out.

"What the hell do you mean take it? Of course we will!"

Sasuke laughed, causing the Genin to turn to him.

"You forgot the very first rule. Read the board, Usuratonkachi."

The girl looked at the board and saw the the first rule. 'Never question me, or you will be failed immediately.'. The girl slumped and Sasuke called out their numbers before they left the room. Neji turned back to them.

"As I was saying, you have to decided whether or not to take it. If you don't, your teams points will be reduced to zero and you will be failed. However, should you decide to take the test and answer the question inncorectly, I will personally bar your team from taking the Chunin exams for the rest of your lives!"

The Genin only just contained themselves from screaming out and having themselves failed. Neji laughed evily at them.

"If you are even the slightest bit uncertain about taking the question, then I suggest you leave. There is after all, always next year to try again. I may not be your examiner next year, you never know. Anyone wish to resign?"

Everyone in the room were shaking from the stress. Finally, one man raised his hand and managed to get his voice to work.

"I... I can't do it..."

Sakura looked up and noticed his number.

"Number 68. Fail. 32 and 132 also fail."

The pressure was on. After about 30 seconds, another person raised their hand and kept it there. Kiba smiled.

"Number 5. Fail. Numbers 63 and 59 Fail also."

They left the room. Finally, one boy slowly raised his hand, however, Naruto noticed something. Just as Ino was about to fail him, Naruto sent a signal that meant stop what you were doing to the examiners. Neji smiled at the boy.

"Giving up?"

The boy slammed his hand down on the desk and stared at Neji.

"THE HELL I'M GIVING UP! I'LL TAKE YOUR STUPID QUESTION! EVEN IF I FAIL, I'LL WILL MYSELF TO BECOMING THE NEXT KAZEKAGE!"

Everyone in the room looked at the kid in pure and utter disbelief. Neji nodded and all the Chunin's agreed. Neji turned to the boy and smiled warmly.

"Reminds you of someone, doesn't he?"

Lee nodded.

"Those were the exact word's Naruto-Kun used when he was posed with this question. Know what the response he got was?"

They turned to Lee, who pointed to Neji.

"I'll let the examiner say it."

"You all pass."

The Genin froze, unsure if they could question Neji. Neji smiled at them.

"Since that technically meant this exam is over, I guess you guys can ask me any questions you have without repucussions."

The boy who claimed that he was going to become Kazekage had one.

"Anosa... Could you explain the meaning of this test?"

Neji laughed.

"Sure. I think my fellow examiners could explain it better than I could."

Ino stood up.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why we said you pass for agreeing to take the question right?"

The Genin nodded dumbly.

"In a sense, the tenth question was the choice to take it or not. Both options had dire consequences. Don't take it and fail immediately."

Chouji stood up.

"Or take it and risk being a Genin forever. It was one of the types of decissions you will be expected to make frequently should you become Chunin."

Hinata stood up and continued.

"As for the first nine questions, they had their purpose. This test was practically two tests in one. The first nine tested your information gathering skills."

Shino stood up.

"Those of you who cheated poorly were cleaned out, because their skills were lacking."

Kiba stood up.

"If we really wanted to, we could have failed every single team well and trully before the 10th question, as at least one member of each team was 'caught' cheating 5 times."

Sakura stood up.

"However, our skills are at least Jounin level, meaning we had an unfair advantage. However, we marked the people down who cheated poorly, and they were booted out."

Sasuke stood up.

"The ones left cheated with a decent level of efficiency, meaning that you posses Chunin level information gathering skills."

Sora stood up.

"Now the 10th Question was the true purpose of the test. Should you be promoted to Chunin, you will be faced with many life or death choices."

Naruto stood up.

"For example, should you be be promoted and you recive a mission to infiltrate an enemy base, where the number of Ninja, how well armed they are and their techniques are completely unknown, can you decline it simply because of the unknowns?"

Neji finished for them.

"The answer is NO! There will always be missions you cannot avoid as a Chunin, and those of you who think it's fine to throw away today's certainty for tomorrow's uncertain future, should resign as Ninja. Those fools have lost the honour of wearing their villages' hitai-ate, that's how we feel. Congratulations to all of you for passing the first part of the Chunin exams. We wish you all luck in the upcoming tests."

They all started feeling prowd of their achievements, which they should, until the door was blown off it's hinges and a flash of green came through the door.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

The Genins stared at the boy in complete incomprehension as to what they were seeing. Naruto laughed.

"Still haven't lost your lack of tact, Lee."

Lee smiled as he surveyed the room before smiling to Neji.

"It seems our generation was truly gifted with the passion of youth. When we went through this test, 26 teams were left. By the end of the second exam, I'll have this number cut down by at least half. Seems there won't be any need for preliminaries this year. I am the second examiner, Rock Lee, Konoha's beautiful azure beast. Please meet me at the Forest of Death tomorrow morning for the second test! YOSH! YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHTLY!"

The examiners waited until the Genins had left the room before they burst out into pearls of laughter . Naruto smiled.

"I wonder who will be worse. Anko or Lee?"

Neji smiled at the prospect.

"They're both as bad as each other, but in their own ways."

At that point, the Hokage walked into the room and smiled. They got up and bowed to the Hokage.

"I must commend you all on a job well done. We have been monotoring the entire test, and the results will be available for your viewing tomorrow on the wall outside room 24 in the Academy."

With that, the Hokage walked back outside, muttering something about 'hooligans' and 'vandalism' as he saw the state of the doors. Naruto decided to invite the remains of the former Rookie 10 to his house to discuss the upcoming matches. As they walked outside, Naruto saw the boy from Suna who had immitated him perfectly, and Naruto walked up to him. The boy looked up at him. The boy had short brown hair that formed a mess of spikes on top of his head. He had hazel eyes and a slightly lankey body. He wore black pants with a red t-shirt. Naruto smiled down at him.

"Hey there. You're the kid who said he was going to become the next Kazekage right?"

The boy pouted and turned away.

"If you want to put me down for my dream, then I don't want to hear it."

Naruto laughed.

"When did I say anything about shooting you down for your dream? I acutally think it's a great dream to have."

The boy looked at Naruto in shock.

"You... Do?"

Naruot nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, Infact, I want to be the next Hokage. That's my dream. So work hard at it, alright?"

The boy nodded and smiled brightly at him. Naruto liked this kid.

"Say, what's your name?"

"Kyo. Akita Kyo. What about you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Kyo smiled and waved as he ran to catch up with his two team mates.

"I'll see you later, Naruto!"

Naruto waved at him as he dissapeared around a corner. Yukiko took that moment to hug Naruto from behind.

"His personality is the splitting image of you when you were younger..."

Naruto laughed and turned around, before hugging her properly.

"Yeah. He'll go far..."

At that point, the rest of the Rookie 10 and Team Gai had approached. Neji stopped in front of the others.

"Not interrupting anything, are we?"

Naruto laughed.

"No, just some quality time together."

Neji laughed as Naruto and Yukiko broke apart. Naruto looked at everyone.

"Shall we get going? I'm sure among us, we can cook enough food to feed us for lunch. I'm all for helping out. I might even cook some food I learnt to make in the west."

Everyone who had not come with Naruto looked at him in interest. Kiba spoke his mind.

"What sort of stuff were you thinking of?"

Naruto thought for a moment.

"Hmmm... Maybe some toasted jaffas, sandwiches and hash browns."

Yukiko and Sora groaned. Ino looked at them in confusion.

"What are... Hash Browns?"

Yukiko sighed and rolled her eyes for dramatic effect.

"They were Naruto-Kun's favorite food in the west. They're mostly considered a breakfast only type of food, but Naruto would eat them as regularly as ramen if he had half a chance..."

Naruto pouted in mock anger before leading them through the village to their home. Once they reached the front doorstep, the people who had not seen their house yet, namely Kiba and Ino stood in shock.

"This is your house?"

Naruto nodded.

"I was like that when we first got it to. It's my dad's old house, so please try not to trash it too much."

They nodded and walked it. Naruto went to the kitchen and saw that the deep frier that he had commissioned the day he got back had been installed. Yukiko checked the window sill to see that the western vegitable trays were still there and that the vegitables were all fine. Naruto turned back to them and smiled.

"Alright, who wants to learn how to make western food? It's really easy, even for me!"

Hinata stepped forward. Hinata had grown a lot during the 4 years away. _'She basically looks like she does in the manga after the time skip.'_ She had also apparently lost her stutter.

"I'd like to try."

Sakura decided to try her hand as well. Naruto turned the heat on for the deep frier and went to the fridge and pulled out a square block of pure fat. Kiba uncounciously began drooling.

"Is that... Fat?"

Naruto nodded.

"A block of pure fat. Although this is not what you're going to be eating."

Naruto dropped it into the water and watched the fat hiss and bubble, letting off a dilecious aroma. _'If you've ever smelt boiling fat, you'll know what I'm talking about.'_ Yukiko motioned for Sakura and Hinata to come over to her so she could begin to teach them to cook. Naruto turned to Sasuke and smiled at him.

"Sasuke, could you take everyone into the living room? I'll bring some drinks out in a bit."

Sasuke nodded and they followed him, however, Kiba stayed behind. Naruto raised an eyebrow at him.

"Want to learn how to cook hash browns? Trust me, you won't regret it."

Kiba shrugged his shoulders and walked up to Naruto. Naruto looked at the fat in the water.

"I have to go make everyone a drink and then get the potato out of the fridge. If the block of fat melts, call me ok? By the way, if you stick your hand in there, you'll lose the ability to ever use it again."

Kiba nodded dumbly and watched the block of fat slowly disolve. Naruto had pulled out some bottles of various types of soda ranging from creaming soda right through to a western drink he particulalrly liked called cola. Naruto poored the drinks and put them on a tray before making his way out to the living room where everyone was waiting. Naruto put the drinks on the table and everyone looked at them then at Naruto who smiled.

"The brown stuff is a western drink called cola. It's extremely sweet and fizzy. The red one is called creaming soda, also a western drink. I was told if you put ice cream in it, you get a type of desert called a 'spyder'. I've had one and it was rather interesting. The orange stuff is just your regular soda from around here. The non fizzy clear liquid is just plain water and the fizzy one is lemonade. None of them will kill you, I can assure you."

Neji decided to be bold and go for one of the 'cola' drinks. He took a sip and swallowed while everyone looked at him expectantly.

"Not bad. Naruto wasn't kidding when he said it was sweet."

Everyone one at a time took a drink. They all decided that they could get used to drinking it. Naruto decided to put some music on, and he went to the sound system stored in the cupboard on the side of the room. Naruto unconciously put on one of his favorite songs, Almost Dead _'This is a real song, and I don't claim ownership for it.'_. They others stared in disbelief at the odd noises coming out of the speakers. Naruto looked back at them and shrugged.

"I got bored of eastern music. This is a type of western music called grunge. Very... Angsty. I like it though."

Shino looked at Naruto.

"Naruto. My bugs find this music disturbing."

Naruto sighed and changed it to some soft rock. Ino smiled when she heard it.

"Different, but I like it."

The others either agreed with her or showed it was acceptable. At that point, Kiba's voice came from the kitchen.

"Oi, Naruto! The fat's just melted."

Naruto smiled at them before dissapearing into the kitchen. Naruto saw that Kiba was right and decided to give him some simple instructions.

"Kiba, you see that dial on the front of the deep frier?"

Kiba pointed to it, looking up to see if he was right. Naruto nodded before continuing.

"Can you please turn it slightly to the left? Each time you hear a click, it's changing the temperature by 10 degrees celcius. Can you turn it exactly 6 clicks to the left?"

Kiba turned the dial exactly six clicks to the left and let go, waiting for the next set of instructions. Naruto pulled a bag out of the freezer with markings on it that Kiba had never seen before.

"Oi, Naruto. What's with the markings on the bag?"

Naruto looked at the bag and smiled.

"That's the langauge they use in the west. It's called _English_."

Kiba nodded and Naruto ripped the bag open to reveal frozen ovaloid shaped pieces of white mashed stuff that Kiba guessed was the potatoes. Naruto looked around and found what he was looking for. Naruto pulled the metal container that was made out of a very widely spaced lattice of metal wires towards him. This one seemed to have multiple layers to it. Naruto turned to Kiba.

"This is easily the hardest part of cooking them. Each hash brown has to sit on it's own separate tray, or they'll get stuck together. So you put one on each layer and then you put the strainer into the oil and hook it up so you don't have to hold it there. Now all you have to do is leave it for 2 minutes to cook."

Naruto looked down and set the timer for two minutes. Naruto watched the timer count down until it got to 10 seconds. Naruto didn't know if this was going to have one of the timers that are found on all industrial deep friers or a calmer one considering this was a lesser one. He called out to everyone.

"Guys, if you hear an alarm, just ignore it ok?"

Naruto heard a chorus of 'ok's from the living room. Sure enough, as the timer reached zero, a shrill alarm went off and Naruto sighed as he pressed a button to stop it. Naruto then pulled the strainer out and showed Kiba the finished hash browns.

"That's all there is too it."

Naruto put the hash browns on a plate and slapped Kiba's hand away when he tried to pinch one. Naruto turned to see that Sakura, Hinata and Yukikoad prepared a few plates of jaffas and sandwiches. Naruto looked at Kiba.

"Kiba, could you bring the drinks out?"

Kiba nodded and gathered the drinks up and brought them out to the dining room which opened into the living room. Yukiko called the others over.

"Guys, lunch is here."

Everyone grabbed their either empty or near empty glasses and sat down at the dining table. Obviously, the table was meant for large gatherings, as they all had a seat. Naruto pointed to a stack of plates that Hinata had brought out.

"Grab a plate each and grab something from the other plates. All of these types of food are meant to be eaten with your fingers, but you can use these if you want."

Naruto brought out knives and forks, which everyone stared at. Sora chuckled.

"They're the west's eating impliments. Instead of chopsticks, they use kinves, forks and spoons."

Sora, Naruto and Yukiko grabbed a pair of knives and forks each and pulled a jaffa, hash brown and a sandwich onto their plates. Everyone decided to follow their example. Everyone said their usual 'itadakimasu' and began eating. From the first bite, everyone noticed the food was filling. VERY filling. Yukiko smiled at them and explained.

"In the west, they believe in quality over quantity. Most of the food is full of fat, meaning you eat less and still remain full. The yellow stuff that is on most of the jaffas and sandwiches is called cheese.It's considered a staple in the west. It consists of about 70 percent fat."

They took this information in and just managed to eat everything. They enjoyed the meal over friendly conversation. When the conversation got onto relationships, Ino turned to Yukiko with a sly look in her eyes.

"So, Yukiko. When's the big day?"

Yukiko and Naruto blushed. Before Yukiko answered.

"We're not sure yet. We're also not sure if we should hold it in Konoha."

They all understood why. There were still a small group of people who hated Naruto and Yukiko. Naruto smiled.

"Even if we can't hold it here, Gaara insisted we have it in Suna. Naturally, all of you would be welcome to come."

They took this in and remained silent for a mement, considering the possiblilites. After almost a minute, Naruto threw his hands up in the air.

"There's no use worrying about it now. When it comes closer to the time, we'll worry about it. Until then, we'll just enjoy ourselves."

Everyone nodded in agreement and started discussing what should be done if they were to get to the finals.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** Yay, another one bites the dust! Thank you to everyone who reviewed this story so far. What did you think of Kankuro getting the ultimate Sennin Goroshi? Anyways, it's nearly midnight here, so I'm calling it a night. Until next time, my avid readers!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	3. Jounin Exams, Part 2 & A Kage Battle

**A/N:** Yo! Sorry that I've been kind of neglecting this story, but I really want to get the other stoy progressing. I'll get straight onto the reviews/comments/suggestions:

**White Alchemist Taya:** Yeah, but I had no idea what to expect. Also, if you hide something normal from people for a while, generally if you show it to them, they will think more of it than if you show it to them immediately. Christian? Please. I'm strictly anti-religious. Not that I'm trying to offend people, but I hate all religions with a passion. I was forced into almost every religion at primary school. I could choose the Aethitist class, but that's where the assholes hung out, so I'd rather subject myself to religious BS than that. As for the chain smoking thing, I'd have to agree with you. It seems all characters of anime are immune to smoking, for some odd reason. Sasuke hugging Naruto? In the regular storyline, it'd never happen. In mine, Sasuke isn't a stuck up SOB who only cares about his revenge. Um... Gaara did Konohagure Insen Taijutsu Ogi: Sennin Goroshi. IE, Konoha's Secret Taijutsu Master Art: Thousand Yaers of Pain. Just playing with you, I know you know what it was. However, Gara is a prankster. How could you expect me not to get Naruto to teach it to him? Lol, I bet you're right about Shino and his bugs. I haven't personally made Hash Browns, but I've seen them being made at Hungry Jacks before. It was a while ago, but that's roughly what I remember from it. They might have complained about it, but they both know it's rude to complain about someone's cooking when you're eating at their table. The big day won't be until they've had their own Genin teams for a while. I want them both to train a team each before they tie the knot, settle down and have kids. Purple... Monkey... With... Wings? EH? Lol, catch you round.

**Conceptor:** Awww, only a good chapter? Not a god one? Oh well, we can't have it all I guess. Oh man, you have no idea what good timing your comment came at. This chapter, all hell brakes lose.

**Naruto's-Shadow:** Hmm, I'll see what I can do. I can't make any promises, but I'll try.

**Korrd:** Read White Alchemist Taya's note, it'll tell you when.

**General Badaxe:** You know, for some reason, your name reminds me of the Dark Iron Dwarves from WoW. Anywho, I don't mind if you take ideas from me, just as long as you don't cut and paste huge chunks of my stories and leave them as they were or only adjust them minorly. Basically, cut and paste for say jutsu names, but not entire scenes.

**WintersMourning:** Meh, I really don't like it when people say 'OMG, this is sooo better than that.' For example, saying Playstation 2 is better than Gamecube. I think those people who get caught up in those sorts of arguments need to grow up, because they're still toddlers chucking a tantrum in my eyes. Learn to accept and appreciate everything, and do not compare, that's one of my mottos.

**TrapedSoul:** OMG, I can't believe I put a loophole in my plot that big! GAH! Thanks for pointing it out.

**FlameChampion54:** Well, the 6 exams in between when Naruto and Yukiko left and when they returned were different. I'm not sure if they're allowed to talk to others about the exam or ont, but that non cannon filler about Ibiki's younger brother was a set of extreme circuimstance, plus it wasn't canon, meaning it never officially happened. Apart from that, I can't recall another time the 10th question was brought up in the entire story.

**God in a Box:** Lol, I'm actually a very good cook, I've just never cooked hash browns before. When I saw the guy chucking a lump of fat into the deep frier, I remember just being able to see some sort of liquid that was a golden colour, like oil. That might have been what it was, I have no idea. Give me a recipe book and I'll cook you anything you want providing I have what I need to cook it. I'm trying to become completely self sufficient in almost every way I can. Becoming a professional author might just be my ticket to doing that. I also needed to learn how to take care of myself, since my brother goes out regularly and my parents go away for about a month every year. It's good experience for learning how to look after my own place when I get one. Well, it's good to hear you liked the chapter.

**Neotonix:** I have to agree with you there. This story is much more likeable than my other one. The other one, I'm almost projecting my personality into Naruto, to see what would happen if I suddenly took over Naruto's body. Thanks for the comment, I'll check out this 'never cut twice' story. To tell you the truth, it sounds remarkably like one of DameWren's stories, Two Halves and Twice Shy. Both of those were excellent. I've actually asked him if he would let me continue to write the story for him, but I haven't recived a response yet apart from an automated one saying he's in south america doing aid work and he'd respond when he got back. Unfortunately,

**Kin-Ryu Chikara:** Thank you. I'm glad you liked it. As per your request, read below :P

**IMPORTANT: **If any of you don't agree with what happens this chapter, then read the bottom A/N. I'll explain why I did what I did then.

Legend:

_'...Thoughts...'_

"...Japanese..."

"_...English..."_

_**'...Biju Thoughts...'**_

"**...Biju Talking in Japanese..."**

"**_...Biju Talking in English..."_**

**&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&**

The Return of The Bijus:

Chapter Three:

Jounin Exams, Part 2:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning, in the Hokage Tower:**

The 20 Chunins who had participated in the first test of the Jounin exams eagerly awaited for the Hokage Tower to open so they could see the results. Once they got there, they saw 10 people, or two teams had past. The sign read this:

_'Results for the first test of the Jounin Exam:_

_First Team:_

_Inuzuka Kiba,_

_Yamanaka Ino,_

_Hyuga Hinata,_

_Akimichi Chouji,_

_Aburame Shino._

_Second Team:_

_Haruno Sakura,_

_Uchiha Sasuke,_

_Saito Sora,_

_Yakushi Yukiko,_

_Uzumaki Naruto._

_The final test will be held in 5 weeks time, the day after the final matches for the Chunin Exams.'_

Naruto gave Sasuke a high five and Yukiko a kiss to celebrate. Naruto looked at the other team that had past.

"I really hope we get to see you guys in the final match."

Kiba smirked.

"We'll make it there alright. We expect the same thing from you."

Naruto shook hands with Kiba.

"You're on. Well, we're going to go train for the next 5 weeks."

Ino decided to play along with the banter.

"So will we. We won't lose to you!"

Naruto laughed good naturedly and smiled at her.

"We'll see, Ino, we'll see."

With that, they split up into their teams. Naruto had the perfect idea for Sora.

"Sora, Kakashi-Sensei has a very powerful move that I would almost consider a Raiton Jutsu. Only Sasuke and Kakashi know it. We should go talk to him."

Sora nodded and walked with the rest of the team as Naruto led them down the streets of Konoha towards where Naruto had a fair idea of where Kakashi would be. Sure enough, he was standing at the memorial, remembering his lost temmates and friends. He looked up when he felt their presence and smiled.

"Yo! What are you guys and girls up to?"

Naruto smiled.

"We just came to ask a favour, Kakashi-Sensei."

Kakashi's eye half widened in interest.

"Hmm? And what would that be?"

Naruto smiled a toothy grin at Kakashi.

"Well, Sora uses lightning attacks, and I thought the Raikiri would be a perfect adition to her arsanel."

Kakashi looked at Naruto in suspicion.

"You want me to teach her my only original move because she uses Raiton jutsus? Naruto, knowing you, you have another reason. What is it?"

Sora spoke up.

"I want to use it to protect my friends."

Kakashi's eyes widened before smiling.

"That's the exact reason I created the jutsu. Did Naruto tell you?"

Sora shook her head.

"No, but that would be the only reason I would use it for."

Kakashi turned away from the memorial stone and walked up to Sora.

"I guess if that's the reason you will use it, I can teach it to you. I still owe Naruto a favour, after all, so this will make us even, hmm?"

Naruto nodded, knowing exactly what Kakashi was talking about. _'Think about it. It's not too hard to figure out.'_ Kakashi motioned for Sora to come with him and began running through the principles of it, how it worked, and finally the hand seals. Sora tried it, achiving better results than Sasuke did when he learnt it and was using the Sharingan. However, the results were still small. For the next few hours, Sora proacticed with Kakashi while the others trained amongst themselves. By the end of the day, Sora had gotten the Chidori to level of power that Sasuke had when he faced off against Itachi. Kakashi wasn't surprised at it, due to the fact she was a master of Raiton jutsus. With her normal chakra, she could manage 4 full powered ones a day. She had not tried yet with Rokubi's chakra, but she didn't want to try until she could manage 5 with her normal chakra. Sora could tell that Rokubi's chakra would be extremely unstable with this jutsu. By now, the sun had began sinking over the horison, leaving the sky a redish tint. Kakashi smiled.

"Well, I think that should do for today. Good luck to all of you in the Jounin exams."

"Thanks-Kakashi-Sensei!"

Kakashi smiled and waved before walking off. Naruto looked at his team, deciding what to do.

"Guys, I recommend having bi-weekly meetings to discuss stratagy and whatnot on top of training together every day."

They all nodded, showing they agreed with him. Naruto turned to the others.

"Sakura-Chan, I know you're busy busy at the hospital a lot of the time, and it can be unpredictable, but could you try asking for two mornings off a week? The meetings shouldn't take much longer than a few hours each at most."

Sakura nodded.

"I'll see what I can do."

Naruto looked at the others.

"None of us have the kind of schedual Sakura-Chan has to keep up with, so would whatever times she can get suit you guys?"

They nodded, making Naruto smile.

"It's settled then. Also, I think we should all pick a target from the other Konoha team and study their fighting styles, as I have a feeling they'll be the hardest ones to beat."

Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"They've all been training together since they passed the Chunin Exams. Their teamwork is flawless."

Naruto nodded unconciously, thinking about who should go with who.

"Sakura-Chan, you and Ino have known each other since childhood right?"

Sakura nodded smiling confidently.

"Leave her to me."

Naruto turned to the others.

"Does anyone have any personal preferences?"

Sora looked thoughtful, which Naruto picked up on.

"Do you have one, Sora?"

She nodded.

"I'd like to take Hinata. I've always taken an interest in the Juken."

Naruto nodded. Sasuke looked at Naruto, having reached his decision.

"I'll take Chouji. Chouji relies mainly on power. Speed is my specialty."

Naruto nodded. Yukiko giggled.

"Looks like I get the pleasure of beating Kiba up again."

Naruto smiled, taking the last one.

"Then I get Shino. Judging by Shino's personality, he's the leader of the group right?"

Sasuke and Sakura nodded, causing Naruto to smile.

"Perfect. Ok guys, we'll call it a night. However, I would suggest finding out as much information on your opponent and their clans. Good luck guys!"

They all retired to their houses, reviewing what they had about their target and their clans before retiring for the night.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Five Weeks Later, at the Stadium:**

It was a week after the Chunin Exams had finished. Everyone from Naruto's team had studdied their targets and also spied on them training. They had only managed to get together twice a week to train, and another twice for strategy meetings, however, during those meetings, Naruto thought it was imperative to teach Sasuke and Sakura at least enough English so they could talk about their battle plans on the field in front of the others and they'd have no clue as to what was going on. Overall, however, they believed they were prepared. The two Konoha teams saw that there was a team from each of the major countires in the waiting room with them, as well as one from Oto. They had no idea why they had been allowed to compete, considering what they tried to pull off four years ago. The only thing they could come up with is that since Konoha had no firm evidence of what would have taken place, Oto hadn't tried to pull anything since then. Tenten, who was apparently the examiner turned to them.

"Since you've all passed the Chunin exams, I'm guessing you know how this will work. Here's the matchups. Take a good look at them."

Tenten pulled a folded piece of paer from her pocket and showed it to them. Luckily, both Konoha teams were at opposing ends of the ladder. This was how it was set up.

_'Division 1, First round:_

_Konoha Team 1_ 'Naruto's Team'_ VS Kumo_ _Team_

_Kiri Team VS Oto Team_

_Iwa Team VS Kusa Team_

_Division 2, First Round:_

_Ame Team VS Taki Team_

_Suna Team VS Konoha Team 2.'_

Tenten folded the piece of paper up and put it back in her pocket.

"Ok, the rules are the same as the Chunin exams. No rules save for the fact that if I order a stop to the match, you will stop or I will disqualify you. Killing is allowed, however, try to keep them alive. Also, you must knock out the entire opposing team to win your match. Any questions?"

They shook their heads and Tenten smiled.

"Ok then, first match is between Konoha Team 1 and the Kumo Team. Could the two teams in the first match go down to the field please?"

The Cloud team nodded and walked down the stairs to the arena. They were met with claps and cheering. Naruto nodded to his team, who nodded back. They jumped over the railing. They landed and stood facing the others. The croud stopped their cheering when they recognised who they were. Intense murmurs started circulating the crowd as Tenten announced the first match.

"The first match is between Konoha Team 1 and Kumo Team. Begin!"

Tenten jumped back, however, the guy who was obviously the leader of the Kumo team started laughing. Naruto turned to his team mates, seeing if they knew what was wrong. Sora obviously did. The leader of Kumo Team looked at Sora.

"So, the little demon finally decided to betray us."

This got Naruto into it.

"Considering what you assholes did to her, I'm not surprised."

The leader turned to Naruto snarling.

"What the hell would you know, blonde?"

"Enough. Considering I went through exactly the same thing she did for the same reasons in my own Village, I know she didn't deserve it. She's more human that you will ever be."

The leader smiled sadistically.

"So you're a demon too, eh? We might as well finish what our parent's couldn't."

Yukiko was getting bored of this chat and decided to take it to the next level.

"**Well then, why don't you try it? Let's see what you can do against three 'demons' as you call them, when an entire village couldn't even beat one. Bring it, scum."**

Naruto and Sora coppied Yukiko and brought out their demon chakra. It was only a tiny fraction of what they could pull out, but it was worth it for the effects. The Kumo team were trembling in fear. Naruto sighed.

"**_This isn't even worth it. Let's finish this."_**

The Kumo team were even more fearful. For all they knew, this was the language of the devil. Naruto decided to dispell that right now.

"**And before you get any ideas, no that's not the language of the underworld. It's another human language that is still in use today."**

Naruto activated his Gauntlet and pointed.

"**I've always wanted to meet the scumbags who've made Sora's life hell. Time for a taste of your own medicine."**

With that, Sora charged forward using her boots at blinding speed, leaving a huge trail of dust in her wake. She had punched one of the Kumo team in the gut, but was travelling so fast, she really just picked him up and kept going to the wall, which she slammed him into and punched him in the gut again, then the chest and finally the head. This was all before the dust had settled. When th dust has settled, Sora was holding the limp body by the neck. She dropped him, and he fell to the floor in an uncerimonious heap. She turned back to the Kuma team, who were still trying to recover from her blinding burst of speed.

"**I can't believe I was actually ever scared of you guys. This is sad."**

With that, she sped towards them, causing them to flinch, but she continued past them to where her team was. The Kuma team looked back at the Konoha team in a new light. These guys weren't your average Chunins, not by a long shot. One of the Kuma team decided to lauch a jutsu at one of them. Forming the seals, which Sasuke coppied to memory happily.

"Raiton: Raiyuudan!"

The boy breathed a stream of electrcity towards Yukiko, who stood there looking quite bored. The electricity struck, causing a blinding flash of light and an explosion, which everyone shut their eyes from. After the dust had settled, they saw Yukiko was looking at him in a bored manner from the middle of a crater, completely unfazed and unharmed. The boy started shivering.

"**Trust me, very few jutsus can touch me. I guess you could call it a... What are they... A Zettai Bougyo?"**

The Kuma team knew now they had no chance. They'd unleashed possibly one of the most powerful Jutsus they had on one of them and it didn't even phaze them. Stupidly, they charged them, hoping that they could somehow pick them off, one at a time. The female of the team threw a hail of Kunai at Naruto, who put up his gauntleted arm. The attacker could see that it wouldn't cover all of them, however, the gauntlet started morphing hideously before it formed a shiled, deflecting all of the kunais as if it were...

"Alive? Yeah, it is in a sense."

They turned to look at Sasuke, who was smiling at them.

_'Did he just-'_

"Read your minds? Possibly."

Naruto smiled. It seemed Sasuke had mastered the hypnosis and subtle subconcious suggesting that the Sharingan was capable of. The Kumo team was obviously trying to fight to retain their sanity, however, it was a losing battle. One of the guys stopped in front of Sasuke and began circling around him, which Sasuke mirrored perfectly. He stopped and stared at Sasuke's eyes, which was exactly what Sasuke wanted. The boy formed a seal, which Sasuke did as well.

_'Damn it... This guy's-'_

"Immitating me perfectly."

The boy's eyes widened in disbelief. He started forming a few more seals, which Sasuke mirrored.

"YOU CAN'T IMMITATE ME, YOU MONKEY!"

Apparently, he could. The boy lost it and started forming a bunch of seals.

"I'LL SHUT THAT COPYCAT MOUTH OF YOURS PERMANENTLY!"

They finished the seal sequence at the same time, announcing their jutsu.

"RAITON: RAIYUU NO TATSUMAKI!"

The ground began cracking as two tornados of lightning came out around them. The top of the tornadoes formed dragon heads and they charged at one another. They collided, forming a huge explosion, which shook the entire stadium. The boy looked at Sasuke in disbelief.

_'That was-'_

"The same jutsu as me."

The boy's bloodshot eyes widened as he charged the Uchiha, but Sasuke put a fist into the boys gut, which wasn't hard considering how reckless and poorly planned the charge was. The boy collapsed, coughing up blood. Sasuke smiled at the others.

"The look on your faces are priceless. But it'll be even better after this."

Sakura took the hint and charged at the girl. Sakura flicked her with a single finger, and to the Kuma team's suprise, the girl went flying into the stadium wall and fell to the ground unconcious. They stared at Sakura in disbelif.

"What the hell was that?"

Sakura smiled.

"It's amazing what perfect chakra control and application can achieve, isn't it?"

They stared at her like she had grown a third arm. Sakura sighed.

"Yukiko, your turn."

Yukiko smiled a very toothy grin, forming several hand seals, she announced her jutsu.

"**Wood Type: Strangling Vines!"**

The Kuma team were wondering what these kids were really capeable of when Yukiko slammed her hand on the ground in front of her and they saw the ground beneith her palm turn into a quivering mass of jelly like stuff, before it solidified and shot out tendrils of wood which grabbed it's target by the arms and legs, holding the boy in place. The boy looked at the vines and then Yukiko in horror.

"This is..."

"**A wood jutsu? Yeah. Trust me, the Shodaime Hokage wasn't the only one who could use Mokuton jutsus. However, as far as I'm awear, I'm the only one who can use this type."**

Yukiko raised a hand and pointed a finger at the boy.

"**Death Type: Chakra drain!"**

A blue stream of chakra shot out of the boy's chest and staight onto the tip of Yukiko's finger. The boy looked at her with a torrent of emotions.

"My... My chakra..."

Yukiko nodded, before she stopped the jutsu. The boy slumped forward from chakra depletion. They turned to the leader, who was the only one left. Naruto sighed and held out his right hand with the palm facing up. Chakra began collecting in his hand before it turned into a sphere. He looked at the leader.

"**Recognise this?"**

The boy had heard tales of the Yellow Flash slamming his palm which was filled with a ball of chakra into enemies, sending them flying. Hell, it was impossible not to have. He sighed and was about to say 'I give up' when Naruto was right in front of him. Nartuo slammed his fist into the boy's chest, sending him flying. The boy did not get up, so Tenten smiled at them.

"Winner of the first match: Konoha Team 1!"

The croud burst into thunderous applause, cheering for the group that was becoming fast favorites. They left to go back to the waiting room. The other team's were very afraid of this team now, except for the other Konoha team. They awalked over to them, congratulating them on a job well done. Tenten announced the next match.

"Next match is Kiri Team VS the Oto Team. Would both teams come down so we can start the match, please?"

Both the Oto and Kiri teams walked down and entered the stadium. Tenten looked at both teams, seeing they were ready, she nodded and brough her hand down in between them.

"Second match between Kiri and Oto Teams. Begin!"

The match was a fair fight. Both teams trade blow for blow, however, it clearly became apparent that the Oto team had an edge. The Oto team were obviously suppressing their chakra to make it look like it would be an even match. Eventually, the last of the Kiri team was knocked unconcious, while the Otot team stood, panting at the exertion. Tenten pointed to the Oto team.

"The Kiri Team is unable to continue, therefore the Oto team wins this match."

There was a light smattering of applause as the Oto team came back up to the waiting room. Everyone was now wary of the Oto team. The Oto team looked at Naruto's team in hunger, or more specifically, Sasuke. Naruto gathered his group in and expressed his opinions in a hushed whisper.

"Guys, I really don't like that Oto team. If I didn't know better, I'd say those guys are after you again, Sasuke."

Sasuke's eyes narrorowed in one of his old fashioned scowls that they hadn't seen in years. They watched the other matches, which were uneventfulcompairedto the last two. Finally, the second round of matches was ready. Tenten called them down.

"Konoha Team 1 and Oto Team, your up."

They got down and faced each other. Tenten nodded.

"First match of the second round, begin!"

She jumped back and Naruto decided a quick win would be best. He didn't want to see what these guys had in mind for his team. Naruto charged forward, followed by his team. However, the Otot team just stood there, looking slightly amused. The guy in the middle pulled down his lower eyelid, freezing the Konoha Team in place. Naruto managed to look at him.

"That's not a normal body freeze. What the hell was that?"

The man chuckled in a very Orochimaru like style, making them shiver unconciously.

"Well, Naruto-Kun. Why don't you guess?"

Sasuke shook the effects off, and charged, however, he was backhanded into the arena wall by another of the group. They stared at the man in shock, however, Sakura ran to Sasuke and began healing him. The remaining members proceeded to lay into the Konoha team while they were still defenseless.

"Sasuke-Kun, hang on!"

Sakura was still focusing all of her attention towards Sasuke, so she didn't notice the leader of the Oto team break away from the main group and form a hebi hand seal. Naruto didn't get to activate his Ingan to see what he was going to do as the Leader's neck extended and shot towards Sasuke, Naruto managhed to get away from his assailant and charged towards Sasuke, however he realised he wouldn't make it in time. Sakura noticed at the last second and grabbed the man by the neck, halting him. The man slowly inched his way forward, fighting Sakura's monsterous strength. However, the Oto man won and bit down on Sasuke's neck. Once he had delivered his toxic payload, he withdrew and his neck returned to normal length. Sasuke screamed in agony, as Naruto reached him. He activated his Ingan and was horrified to see violet purple strands reaching into Sasuke's body from the seal on his neck. By now, the other members of the Konoha team had managed to break away and came to Sasuke's side. Naruto took stock of the situation.

"Sora, Sakura-Chan! Finish them off! Destroy the stadium if you have to! Yukiko, you can see them too right?"

Yukiko nodded, her own Doujutsu activated.

"Stop the ones going for his brain! The other's are a lost cause! I'll try and slow them down with an overlaying seal!"

Sora nodded and unsheathed her swords, however Sakura was trembling in fear. Naruto turned to her.

"Sakura-Chan, the best way you can help him for now is keep them off our backs. We'll do our best to stop the seal."

Sakura nodded and focused her fear into anger, which she use to beat a two of the Oto team sensless. Sora used her Lightning Funeral to burn the other three to a crisp. Naruto had carved two concentric circles into the floor around Sasuke, stabbing kunai into the circles at equal distances apart. Yukiko was having a tough time keeping the new chakra paths from reaching Sasuke's brain, but she was managing it. Finally, Naruto bit his index finger and started quickly tracing paths of Kanji towards where Sasuke was on his hands and knees, panting. Naruto turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, can you hear me?"

Sasuke nodded, in far to much pain to talk coherent words.

"Sasuke, I need you to try sitting cross legged where you are and try and keep as still as possible. I have to write Kanji on you to complete this seal. Can you do that?"

Sasuke nodded and slowly sat in a cross legged position, wincing from the pain. Naruto quickly traced the last few lines of Kanji onto Sasuke' body, focusing them to the Cursed seal. Naruto focussed again on Sasuke.

"Sasuke, that cursed seal is going to try and alter your way of thinking. I don't know how, but it will. Whatever you do, don't listen to it ok? All it is is false promises. I'm starting now."

Naruto formed a quick succession of hand seal before placing his hand on the cursed seal and announcing his technique.

"Fuuja Houin!"

The circles flashed and Sasuke began screaming anew from the pain. The Kanji lines slwoly began to work their way up to the cursed seal in a wave like motion. Once the last of the Kanji had worked its way under Naruto's palm, he lifted his hand to reveal a second seal around the cursed seal. Sasuke panted.

"Sauke, this is the best I can use on the spot. Remember, this seal utilizes your will power to supress the cursed seal. If you ever doubt your strength, it will fail. Don't give in Sasuke, I'll fix it eventually. It's a promise."

With that, Sasuke passed out. Naruto turned to the last survivng member of Team Oto.

"Still haven't given up on him, eh? He will NEVER be yours."

The leader smirked.

"It doesn't work like that Nartuo-Kun. He WILL seek Orochimaru-Sama for power."

With that, the man fell over. Naruto ran to check it. He was horrified to see that it was one of Kabuto's jutsus, the dead soul technique. Naruto didn't doubt that Kabuto remained true to the leaf. It was entirely possible that he had taught the jutsu to someone else before he had left Oto. Naruto saw Kabuto in the crowd, with genuine shock on his face. This supported the latter theory. Just then, Naruto noticed that the croud was deathly silent. He looked up to find that they were all alseep. His attention was drawn to the Kage stand where a smoke bomb went off. Naruto looked at his team.

"Sakura, take care of Sasuke! Sora, Yukiko-Chan! We're going up there!"

They nodded and charged forward, jumping up to the Kage box in time to see the Raikage emerge, holding the Hokage hostage. The Kages got to the roof and saw four Sound nins take up the corners of the roof. Naruto, Yukiko and Sora got inside their formation just as they announced their technique.

"SHISHIENJIN!"

There were several ANBU just behind Naruto's group who weren't so lucky. They touched the barrier andburst into flames. Naruto, Yukiko and Sora stood in front of the two Kages. Sora could tell something was wrong.

"You're not the Raikage. He never coveres his face."

The Raikage smiled.

"She's sharp. Perhaps I should reveal my true identity..."

The 'Raikage' put his free hand up to his face and ripped the mask off to reveal Orochimaru. They sneered. Which made Orochimaru laugh.

"My my, such hatred. It really doesn't suit people so young."

"Shut it you snake bastard."

"How blunt."

Sora started forward, but Naruto stopped her with an outstretched hand.

"This is Ojisan's fight. He needs to teach him a lesson he should have remembered from the Academy days."

Orochimaru looked at Naruto in interest.

"Ojisan? That's a very disrespectful way to address a Kage."

Naruto decided to try a jab at him where he knew it would hurt.

"What does it matter when I'm going to get the job you wanted oh so badly?"

This had the desired effect and Orochimaru tensed, before he clamed himself.

"A Kyubi brat like you could never get that position. You should give up that hopless dream."

Sarutobi turned his head to Orochimaru.

"He's closer to getting the job than you ever were."

Orochimaru let go of his former sensei and started forming hand seals, which the Hokage did as well. They traded several high level jutsus before they stopped, gathering their chakra. Naruto, Yukiko and Sora did as well. The tiles started cracking from the sheer power that was being pressed onto them. The air was alive with a constant hum and a very electical style crackle. Bits of tiles and rock started floating in the air. The ANBU outside were quivering.

"What enourmous chakra... I can feel the air pressing down onto me..."

Sarutobi ran forward, throwing a shuriken followed by hand seals.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The single shuriken multipled into at least 50, but Orochimaru was forming his own hand seals.

"Not good enough! Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Edo Tensei! One!"

The roof in front of Orochimaru turned into three pulsing purple circles. The one on the left flashed pure purple before a coffin came out.

"Two!"

The second one appeared in a simmilar manner to the first. Sarutobi started forming hand seals to stop the thrid, but Naruto put a hand over his, stopping him.

"Naruto what are you doing?"

Naruto shook his head.

"I want to meet him. Grant me at least that."

The Hokage nodded as the third one came forth.

"Three!"

The third coffin came up just as the shuriken peppered the coffins. Naruto smiled.

"This should be interesting."

The coffin lids creaked before collapsing to the floor. When the smoke cleared, there were the people Naruto, Yukiko, Sora and the Hokage had been expecting. They had very pale skin, but it was them alright. The majority of th Leaf people who had been left to fight had beaten off the Oto ninjas and were watching. There was about 50 or so onlookers. One of the ANBU looked surprised.

"Is that... Yondaime? Then who are the other two?"

The one next to him sighed.

"Shodaime and Nidame."

The others turned to him.

"Both of them were said to be the most powerful men of their time."

Naruto looked directly at Yondaime with tears in his eyes.

"It's been a while... Otousan..."

The crowd outside gasped. Surely, he still wasn't going on about that? Now that they saw them next to each other, the resemblance was uncanny. The Yondaime looked up.

"Naruto? Is that you?"

Naruto nodded and smiled weakly.

"It seems you've grown into a fine young man. I'm proud of you... My son..."

Comnig from the Yondaime's mouth, there was no mistaking it.

"How has your life been?"

Naruto smiled.

"Bareable. I'm engaged."

Yondaime smiled.

"That's great. Who's the lucky girl?"

Naruto pulled Yukiko close to him, indicating it was her. Yondaime smiled wamly.

"From what I can tell, she's perfect for you. She's a Yakushi, judging by her appearance. You wouldn't happen to be Yukiko, would you?"

Yukiko nodded slowly.

"I have one request. Please take care of my son. I regret that I will not be able to see my grandchildren, but life is unfair like that sometimes."

Naruto smiled and walked up to him slowly.

"Can I have one thing?"

"What would that be?"

"A hug? Just one?"

Arashi smiled.

"I am supposed to fight you, considering Orochimaru summoned me, but I will let you, just this once. Then I want to fight you, to see how strong you really are."

Naruto threw himself into his dad's arms, hugging him tightly and sobbing. Everyone was staring at the situation in interest. Finally after about a minute, Naruto pulled back, his tears dried. Nidaime looked back at Orochimaru.

"So, this guy summoned us eh? Seems like we have to fight you, Sarutobi."

Sarutobi had tears in his eyes as well. Orochimaru was forcing him to face his own mentors. Orochimaru chuckled and walked up behind them with three kunai, all with a red tag attached.

"Let's stop this family reunion and get back to fighting, shall we?"

The Shodaime spoke without emotions.

"I see that in all times, there is war."

Orochimaru reached the back of them and smiled.

"But you like war, don't you?"

"Mocking the dead like that! No good will come of messing with time!"

Orochimaru raised the first two kunai to head level.

"Then, let's begin, but before that, I need to return these three to their true forms. Please get ready."

Orochimaru pressed the kunai to the back of their heads, which swallowed them. Their bodies started hissing and letting off steam, their skin regaining normal flesh colour as Orochimaru approached the Yondaime with the last one. Yondaime smiled at Naruto.

"It was a pleasure to see you again, son. Please don't come at me with any hesitation."

Naruto sniffed, tears beginning anew.

"Goodbye, Otousan..."

The kunai was implanted into his head and he underwent the same process that the Shodaime and Nidaime just had. Nartuo fell to his knees, seeing his father in the flesh after so long. Sarutbo stumbled a few stepps forward, tears in the corners of his eyes. Orochimaru put a hand on the back of Shodaime and Nidaime.

"Complete."

"You all look a lot more like you used to look."

Orochimaru, being the sadistic bastard he is. Decided to rub it in futher.

"Do you know the sense of satisfaction and happiness I gain by hurting the one I used to call teacher and the son of the one who took the job I wanted? I prepared this situation so you could suffer that sort of happiness. So please enjoy."

The three previous kages started forward slowly, before ending up at a running pace. Naruto called out to everyone.

"Yukiko-Chan! Take out Shodaime! Sora! Take Nidaime! I'm going for Yondaime! Ojisan, go teach your student the lesson he should have learnt a long time ago! Also, don't use THAT jutsu!"

Each of them nodded and went to engage their targets. The Kages also split up to take their oppenents. Yondaime took out one of his three pointed kunais and threw it at the base of Naruto's feet.

"I've improved that jutsu, Otousan. I don't need them to do it!"

Naruto and Arashi streaked forward in flashes of yellow light, flying around the roof and colliding every now and again before breaking off and engaging again somewhere else. Meanwhile, Sora was stopping the Nidaime's advances with waves of chakra charged lightning from her swords. Yukiko was engaging Shodaime with Taijutsu while Sarutobi was engaging Orochimaru with lower level elemental jutsus. The onlookers were stunned. None of their battles could ever compare to the sheer power raidiating from each of the fighters in there. This was on a whole different level.

"Is this... A Kage level battle? What power... If were were in there, we'd only get in the way..."

Finally, Yukiko decided to try out the Shodaime's ability to control wood.

"Let's see who's Mokuton jutsus are better."

They both formed a hebi hand seal.

"MOKUTON HIJUTSU: JUKAI KOUTAN!"

The entire area came alive with vines, which began competing to strangle each other. Soon, the entire area was covered in trees. Yukiko laughed.

"I knew it. You're a demon container like us. Hachibi was your demon, wasn't it? It was the only other demon who had the power to control wood, apart from Nibi, which I have."

The ANBU gasped. This girl was accusing Shodaime of being a Jinchuriki? The Shodaime just nodded, and continued with Taijutsu. It seemed that they had at least a minimum amount of control over their bodies, and the nod was his way of confirming that she had hit the mark. The few people there who still hated Naruto were having second thoughts. If Shodaime had been as good a Hokage as he was and was a Jinchuriki, surely Naruto couldn't be much worse? They turned back to the battle as Nidaime started forming seals. Naruto who already engaged his Ingan saw that this jutsu would be bad for all of them. He broke off and flashed towards the Nidaime, ripping his hands apart, which broke his concerntraition, canceling the jutsu. Naruto turned around to block an attack from the Yondaime and flashed off again. Sora managed to form a Kage Bunshin during this time and both of them began forming the seals for her most powerful attack. Both of their hands began glowing as lightning formed in the palm of their hands. They slammed their palms together and pumped Rokubi's chakra into it, making it highly unstable. She looked at the Nidaime, who had just turned around to see her and her clone charging him. He tried to get out of the way, but a thrid Kage Bunshin came from behind and grabbed him in a full nelson, which he did not expect. Sora announced her jutsu.

"**Odama Raikiri!"**

The clones helping her poofed out of existance and the attack pierced the Nidaime's chest before Sora lost control of it and it exploded, completely obliterating the Nidaime and throwing her back. Much to her horror, the pieces of Nidaime came back and reattached themselves to each other, recreating the entire body. Nidaime got up and charged her again. Everyone else fighting had noticed this as well. Naruto called to the others.

"Gather in the centre!"

They did, forming a tight circle with their targets surrounding them.

"It seems the only way to kill them is to kill the souls. Ojisan, I'll let you do the honours for Orochimaru, however, I'd prefer to keep you alive, but if you have to, do it. I'll take the others."

Sarutobi nodded and watched as Naruto formed a hand seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Nartuo smiled.

"Hey snake freak, we're going to show you a technique that you haven't seen before. You better watch closely, because it'll be the last thing you see."

Nidaime cast a Genjutsu that turned the entire area into a jet black inky darkness. Orochimaru's disembodied voice floated out to them.

"Really? Please, show me this Jutsu."

The Hokage nodded at Nartuo. Naruto would do it first. Naruto formed a series of hand seals and was just about to announce his jutsu when Yukiko screamed in horror.

"DON'T YOU DARE YOU THAT JUTSU! I'M NOT LOSING YOU!"

Naruto smiled at her sadly.

"I'm sorry, Yukiko-Chan. There's no other way. Remember what I said? I can't die until I become Hokage. Believe in that."

Yukiko started sobbing. Naruto hadn't died before, but there was no escape from this Jutsu. Not even his dream could save him this time. The Fox agreed.

_**'WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? YOU DO REALISE THAT YOU'RE GOING TO DIE, DON'T YOU?'**_

_'I know. But Ojisan can't do it for all four, so I have to do it too. We don't have any other options.'_

The others outside had no idea what the comotion was about, but Kakashi knew what it was.

"Shit! He's going to use Shiki Fuujin!"

They turned to Kakashi who looked at the battle in horror.

"Shiki Fuujin was what Yondaime used to seal the Kyubi. It's a Shinjutsu. All of you watch this very carefully. Naruto is one of the two people left alive who can perform it and he's going to kill himself and the other Kages with it!"

They gasped. That all powerful technique? It was rumoured that to use it you had to sign a contract with Shinigami and as payment for summoning him, you had to sacrifice your soul. The Naruto clones as well as the real version shot forward and latched onto what seemed to be nothing, however, those outside the Genjutsu could see what they were holding. The clones stiffened and convulsed for apparently no reason, however, the others knew that Shinigami had just plunged his arm into the back of Naruto's soul. The real Naruto held onto Yondaime, while the other two clones went for Shodaime and Nidaime. Naruto and Sarutobi could see the hand reaching out through a hole in Naruto's clothing as it grabbed the souls of Nidaime and Shodaime. The Genjutsu was dispelled revealing that both Nidaime and Shodaime were turning white.

"Sorry to have caused you trouble, Naruto."

Their bodies started crumbling to reveal several sound nin's corpses. Yondaime was smiling at Naruto.

"And so ends the Uzumaki bloodline. Like father, like son, eh Naruto? You were a better man than I could ever be. Congratulations."

The Yondaime's corpse began crumbling to reveal another Sound nin. Naruto started panting heavily as he prepared for the final part.

"FUUIN!"

Their stomach's flashed before revealing a double four elemental seal. The clones poofed away leaving Naruto standing their, his life drainnig away rapidly. Yukiko charged at him and caught him as he dropped to the ground. She was weeping uncontrollably.

"Naruto-Kun... Don't leave me... We still haven't married yet..."

"Then... let's do it now..."

By now, everyone inside the prison had gathered around. Sarutobi acted as the priest, granting Naruto's last wish.

"Do you, Uzumaki Naruto, take Yakushi Yukiko to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Naruto nodded.

"I... Do..."

"Do you, Yakushi Yukiko, take Uzumaki Naruto to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do..."

Then by the powers vested in meas the Sandaime Hokage, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife."

Yukiko lowered her head to kiss Naruto one last time before he departed this world.

"I... Love you... Yukiko-Chan..."

"I love you to, Naruto-Kun. I always have and I always will."

With that, Nartuo slowly closed his eyes and stopped breathing. Yukiko put her head on his chest and continued weeping. Orochimaru sneered at them.

"How touching. A fitting end for a piece of trash."

Yukiko and Sora tensed, releasing their full demonic chakras, disreguarding any danger to their own lives. Everyone was terrifed at the sheer power of it.

"**NO ONE TALKS ABOUT NARTUO-KUN LIKE THAT AND LIVES!"**

Yukiko released the second stage of her demonic form while Sora was working up to the sixth. They both charged at Orochimaru and began ripping into him. Oeochimaru did the best he could to defend aganist them, but he was quickly overpowered. They proceeded to beat him sensless before knocking him to the ground, where he he groaned from the pain. Sarutobi walked up to them.

"It's time to hand out your punishment for drowning yourself in jutsus. I failed miserably in training you, so now I must correct my mistake."

Orochimaru looked up at his former sensei in horor.

"You wouldn't..."

Sarutobi smiled and looked at Yukiko.

"This is as much of my fight as it is yours. Will you do the honours?"

Yukiko smiled.

"**With pleasure."**

She formed a few hand seals and raised her palm at Orochimaru.

"**Death type: Soul Siphon!"**

The purple stream shot out and connected with Orochimaru's stomach.

"Stop... Don't."

**"Too late. No one calls my husband that and lives."**

Yukiko started pulling Orochimaru's soul out via his arms, however, Orochimaru motioned the Sword of Kusanagi towards Yukiko and it skerwed her through the chest, spraying blood everywhere. Yukiko knew she didn't have enough strength left to drain his entire soul out, so she used a modified chakra scalpel to sever his soul's arms and drain them, leaving Orochimaru's previously white arms to turn black. Orochimaru looked at the girl.

"You bitch! Give me back my arms!"

**"It's far too late... This is your punishment for drowning yourself in jutsus. I will take them all away."**

Yukiko absorbed Orochimaru's soul's arms and then fainted from blood loss. The four sound nins holding the barrier up were waiting for his orders.

"This mission is a failure... The destruction of Konoha has failed... Retreat..."

"KAI!"

The barrier dispelled and the four sound nins gathered Orochimaru. Both Sarutobi and Sora were far too drained to take out all four of them and the sound nins milked this fact for all it was worth. They leaped onto the surrounding building where the others noticed them and gave chase.

"You're not getting away!"

The one with six arms used a jutsu to capture them in a web of sticky chakra, which attached itself to to the roof, letting them beat a hasty retreat. Everyone now went and looked over Naruto's body, mourning the loss of a man who had defeated all of the previous Hokage's by himself. Jiraiya looked incredibly sullen at the fact he had failed his duty to Arashi, while Yukiko was mourning the loss of her husband by leaning on him and weeping uncontrollably.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A Few Days Later:**

Sora was sent to Suna to convey the news of Naruto's death, which was met by sorrow. However, Hotaru didn't looked to disturbed. She sighed and turned to Sora.

"Is his body still intact?"

Sora nodded.

"No modifications have been made to it to preserve it."

Hotaru nodded.

"I... Might be able to resurrect him."

Gaara and Sora stared at her.

"It has a heavy price, but I'm willing to pay it."

Gaara looked at her.

"What is the price."

"I have to die."

Gaara's eyes widened.

"Naruto wouldn't want you to sacrifice your life so he could keep living!"

"Naruto wouldn't mind if he knew I'd also be resurrected with him."

Gaara and Sora stared at her.

"The phoenix will always rise from the ashes, no matter how many times it is killed. All I need to do is die on top of Naruto and be left for three days. After that, I will be resurrected, and so will anyone either on top of me or below me. I've never used this jutsu before, but I doubt I will fail."

They nodded, and so Hotaru came back to Konoha with her. A private room in the hospital was arranged where Naruto's body was taken. Everyone else left Hotaru to do her work. Hotaru sighed looking at Naruto.

"Did you have to use that jutsu, Naruto? Seriously, this is going to hurt..."

Hotaru formed a chain of hand seals that lasted for well over a minute before she announced her technique.

"Healing Type: Seirei Tensei!"

Hotaru was surrounded by flames that were obviously burning her. She gritted her teath in pain as she slumped on top of Naruto and continued burning both herself and him. By the time the fire died down, all that was left was a pile of ash. Yukiko stood outside the door, looking through the window into the room. She sincerely hoped this worked.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Three Days Later:**

Yukiko stood outside the room, looking in as the last few minutes ticked by. As Hotaru had said, the second 72 hours was up, the ashes turned white from the heat and then burst into flames. From the flames, they could vaguly make out two shapes that were quickly takeing on human appearance. The flames died down slowly, revealing Hotaru and Naruto standing up, naked. Hotaru stared at the group gathered outside the door staring in.

"HENTAI!"

The men scampered away, while Sora opened the door a crack and chucked two sets of clothes into the room.

"Get dressed you two, we have stuff to do."

They nodded and grabbed the clothes, pulling them on and shakily walking out the door. They were still weak from the jutsu, and Yukiko pulled Naruto to him and sobbed, while Gaara caught Hotaru with his sand. Naruto looked at Yukiko.

"I told you I couldn't die before I became Hokage, didn't I Yukiko-Chan?"

Hotaru butted in.

"You would have been dead if I hadn't revived you. Seriously Naruto, that jutsu is a pain in the ass. Don't die again, ok?"

Naruto laughed weakly.

"Can't make any promises there..."

They chuckled as they walked out of the corridor and saw that everyone had stopped and was staring at them in disbelief. Naruto was first to respond, smiling at them.

"What's wrong? You guys look like you've seen a ghost."

Yukiko, Sora, Hotaru and Gaara groaned, slapping their hands to their foreheads. Sora looked at Naruto.

"Did you have to use such a cliche'd line, Naruto?"

Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

"We'll, no other line seemed to fit..."

"Forget it."

The nurses recovered from their stupor and swarmed Naruto and Hotaru, amazed to see that they were indeed alive. After some final checks, they were allowed to leave the hospital, although they were both placed under a strict home recovery program. Once they walked out the hospital doors, they all walked back to Naruto's house, ignoring the shcoked stares they were getting from everyone.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** Ok, time for that promised explination! Don't like the idea that the marriage seemed sudden? Well, in real life, a lot of couples do this isf one of them is either terminally ill in hospital or is dying from a wound of some sort. All that's needed is for one witness, and it's completely legal. Should the dying person survive, the vows taken at the time are kind of considered like a solidifying of the promise, and then they have a proper marriage later at a set date. If the person does die, it's considered what a real marriage would be. I've actually been honoured enough to see it happen once, although I won't tell you the details, I was one of the two witnesses. It was both touching and saddening at the same time. Anywho, enough of a trip down memory lane, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. And as I promised in the prequal to this story, Hotaru would use it very sparingly. This is more than likely the only time she will use it. Until next time, my avid readers!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	4. Tsunade & the Bet

**A/N:** Yo! It seems a lot of people have made up rumours about the Chidori. Let's clear up the two main rumors: 1: Contrary to popular belief, the Sharingan is NOT an absolute necessity for the Chidori. Sure, it helps speed up the learning process and also can be used to counter an enemy's counter to the straight thrust, but the secret of the Chidori/Raikiki is in the speed of the thrust. Sora had plenty of speed, even more than Sasuke/Kakashi do. Therefore, the effects of the Sharingan are negated in both of these factors. Also, yes the Chidori was NOT offcially created to protect Kakashi's friends, however, that's the pretense it soon adopted after Obito died. There is a passage in the manga and the anime when Kakashi ties Sasuke to a tree just after the Sasuke/Naruto fight on the roof of the hospital. I will quote the passage word for word from the manga: "You should know from your loss... Chidori is a power given to you because you found things important to you. That power is not something to be used against your friends or for revenge. You yourself should know what that power is used for." Well, it seems I've just blown two myths completely out of the water. Seriously, how many of you guys actually read the manga and watch the anime? It may be because I disect every non filler episode and issue for it's true meaning, but you guys have asked a lot of questions that I thought were a given Also, it seems some people are saying that Body Flicker belonged only to Yondaime. Those people are obviously not very big fans of the series, as it's describes as a 'D-Rank Supplimentry Jutsu useable by some Genins and just about everyone above Genin level'. Those who truthfully think that it's a Yondaime only jutsu have most likely never watched more than 10 episodes of the anime or read 15 issues of the manga... Also, the only people I seem to be getting negative comments from a people with practically brand new accounts. They have no authored stories, no favorite authors or stoires, no nothing. I just find that a LITTLE too coincidental, considering that their witing styles have some similarities that cannot be ignored. I'd almost say it's either one or two people creating new accounts and posting their criticism in what they think are different ways, but there are tell tale signs that you can look for, assuming you know where to look, that will identify a person's writing style as uniquely their own. The styles I've seen are very very simmilar, some are too close for it to be a coincidence. And for those people's information, you can try changing it all you want, it'll still be recogniseable with enough time. Time which I have plenty of. But you can keep creating new accounts. It takes me far less work to copy and paste a number so that account can't review my stories again than it does to create the account in the first place.

**OMG! DEEP ANALOGY TIME!** Also, I've also noticed something VERY interesting. After reviewing every single episode/issue of the manga and anime which the Rasengan appears in when used by Jiraiya and Naruto, I have determined something. Ever noticed those swirls of chakra that are absorbed into the Rasengan from outside as it's formed and until it's dissipated/explodes? Try counting them. EACH and EVERY single time the jutsu is used by Jiraiya, there is always four swirls minimum and five swirls maximum. So what you ask? Try thinking about it. Who made the jutsu? Arashi. Which Hokage was he? Yondaime. Fourth. Who's the Godaime? Tsunade, Jiraiya's companion and former teammate, who has five swirls when he uses the Rasengan. Kind of fitting, don't you think? If you don't understand yet, read below. There's a VERY subtle hint as to Naruto's destiny when he uses it. The number of swirls change. They start at four, then reach five, then six, then go back to four again when the new lot come in. This can also bee seen as an analogy. He's learnt a jutsu created by his father, symbolising the four swirls as the inventer of it I would bet my bottom dollar on the fact that there would have been four swirls and four swirls only when he could be seen using it. Naruto's teacher who taught him to move is the teammate of the Godaime Hokage, and also improved the Rasengan by being able to do one in each hand, something which I KNOW Arashi didn't or couldn't do, and Jiriaya's Rasengan had 5 swirls. Naruto learnt it and AGAIN improved it, creating the Odama Rasengan, hence the 6th swirl. Know what this leads me to believe? Naruto Garanteed Rokudaime Hokage. I'm willing to place a bet on that for the official series.

Anywho, onto the reviews/comments/suggestions:

**White Alchemist Taya:** Yo! I answered your question via PM, but I'll cover the basics of it again. No graphic parts of Sasuke and Sakura's relationship? I can arrange that, but you're still going to have to accept Sakura walking around pregnant and also giving birth. I need their children for the last part of this story. Well, in my fic, Sasuke didn't feel pressed to compete with Naruto's power. Naruto accepted Sasuke and Sasuke quickly accepted Naruto. Also, before Obito died, Chidri was according to Arashi, 'an incomplete jutsu'. Therefore, he'd just made it to look cool. After he completed it, it adopted it's 'protect your friends' motto.

**kitsune of the underworld:** Well, I guess I overlooked the fact that I should have mentioned a long time ago that soul siphon requires a massive amount of chakra. At best, she could manage 2 with her normal chakra and another 2 with Nibi's. However, it leaves her vunerable to attack at that time, so the other Kages would have stopped her. As for asking whether I'm Jesus? No, I would never want to be him. All he was was an extremely charasicmatic man in a time where people would belive that he was satan himself if he told them. Did you know in some ancient texts, record's of the founding of Christianity have been uncovered? In one of them, a vote was taken to decide if Jesus would be a divine being in the Christian religion. Needless to say he was voted for being a divine being, but only by several votes. Some of you may say 'OMG, that was in the Davinci Code'. Well, I've actually looked up the records that the book was based on. They've been confirmed as authenticate. Sorry if I've completely trashed your religion, Christians reading this, but as a man once said, "hey, I calls 'em as I sees 'em." I personally don't care about your past, dark as it was, or even what you do in the furure, as long as you leave me and my friends alone, then it's all good. Anywho, getting WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY offtrack here. Glad you liked it :P

**God in a box:** Lol, that filler arc was funny. It was also the only semi decent one there, apart from that one where Naruto/Kiba/Hinata go treasure hunting. It was quite comical to see Naruto form enough Kage Bunshins too destroy Konoha if they wanted to. Considering how much chakra he must have used to make them, he would have at least had to pull out the second or third of Kyubi's tails to do it. "Ah! The special nindo ramen noodles I was stockpiling! AAAAAHHHH! URASANE! ZETTAI URASANEDATTEBAYO! TAJYUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" ROFL, that was great! He made an army that would put Konoha's entire shinobi force to shame. Maybe we should make up a law. 'Never get between Naruto and his Ramen.' If that's the effects, I'd rather give him a life time supply of the stuff and live life on the streets than eat his ramen. Um, yeah, back to your review: As for the seal, it's going to be made very, very soon. I'll leave you to stew on that. Hand seals mean nothing really, if you think about it. Sure they help mold chakra, but how many people have you seen using just the Hebi hand seal and they all end up with completely different jutsus? Creating a hand seal is defeating the purpose of the lvl 4 Ingan. Think about it this way. If Naruto comes up with some funky hand seal, would that equal the Shiki Fuujin? I certainly don't think it would. I mean a carved seal/drawn seal. Trust me, just wait and see.

**MoOn-ShInE-LoRd:** Good to hear from you again. Well, if Hotaru dies of natural causes, then no, she stays dead. The jutsu is the only way she can die and resurrect herself and others. I've actually been considering giving them extended lifespans for a while now, just not sure if I should. In this story, Naruto has already proven that he's not the kind of guy to rub these sorts of things in. He'll just accept it and go on.

**Chaosmages:** Yo! Although Sarutobi didn't die, I'm still going to make him retire from the job. And before you scream: 'OMG, NARUTO 4 HOKAGE!', I've made it an unspoke law that each kage has to either teach one Genin team, or like the Sannins, take on a single apprentice. Since Tsunade's already taught Shizune one on one and is also going to be taking over Sakura's training, that will make her qualify for the job.

**Conceptor:** YES! GOD CHAPTER! Score! Glad you liked it. It lets me know I'm getting closer to achiving my goal. If you mean introducing cliff hangers, I tried it once to separate the month's training from the main matches for the Chunin exams and found that I didn't like them, not one bit. I felt guilty for doing it, but I kind of had no choice.

**Kyuubi-Sama:** War? The Sandaime is only the temporary Hokage as of this chapter until a replacement is found, so he's not up to leading a war.

**TrapedSoul:** I assume you read the first few paragraphs? If so, then cool, if not, then read them now. As Shino would say "I dislike repeating myself."

**hikaru1: **What happened when Sasuke shoved a Chidori through Naruto's chest during the Sasuke retrival arc? It healed almost instantly. A sword is nothing compaired to a Chidori, so it healed fairly quickly.

**Dragon Noir:** Hmm, another thing I neglected to mention. Well, here's the explination: Odama Raikiri draining. If Kakashi can only do regular Raikiri four times a day with full chakra, how many times do you think Sora could manage a far more powerful version using Rokubi's chakra? She'd already expended a lot for her lightning jutsus, so I tried to make it even. I needed Orochimaru for later chapters, especially this one, and also for another reason. You'll find out later why.As for the resurrection jutsu, she can only do it every 5 years and only if the person had died a valliant death. I mean, killing yourself to revive people left right and centre would cheapen the move to no end. Akasuki had been brooding over the fact that since a lot of the remaining demon containers have merged with their demons, their plans are essentailly screwed. How can they drain something that in essesence doesn't exist, if you catch my drift. Westerners will be making an appearance much later in the story, but not for a while yet. They're still setting up the trade routes with Konoha, and have no intentions of coming over to settle just yet.

**Zarron:** Well, yes he did have the forth level Ingan, but using it to counter something would have meant he'd used about a third of his chakra forming the counter. A counter for a single move at the cost of 1/3 of your chakra is a heavy price to pay, don't you think? The Shodaime was most likely the container for Hachibi in the real series too. Read this chapter to find out why. Also, Akatsuki existed even back then, although with different members, and I'm assuming Shodaime died when they drained his biju. Like Gaara when he had Shukaku drained and was reserected, he still had control over the sand, so a resurrected Shodaime minus Hachibi should still give him control over wood. As for when Naruto was resurrected, Kyubi was practically nothing more than an Inner Sakura that dissagreed with him on everything. Kyubi's chakra was Naruto's own, so that was resurrected with him.

I hope you all enjoy what I believe to be my masterpiece chapter. It's kind of a dulbe length chapter as well. I hope my creativity gives you some semblane of pleasure to read.

Legend:

_'...Thoughts...'_

"...Japanese..."

"_...English..."_

"...TWO OR MORE PEOPLE SAYING THE SAME THING/CASTING THE SAME JUTSU AT ONCE..."

_**'...Biju Thoughts...'**_

"**...Biju Talking in Japanese..."**

"**_...Biju Talking in English..."_**

**&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&**

The Return of The Bijus:

Chapter Four:

Tsunade & the Bet:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**The Next Day, at the Hokage's Office:**

Sarutobi had gathered all of the Konoha Chunin who had participated in the finals. He also had a letter from each of the judges saying who they thought should become Chunin. Little did the others know that the suggestions were practically unanimous. The Hokage smiled weakly at them.

"I'm sure you're all awear of why we have gathered you hear today. This is to announce the results of the Jounin Exams. It seems that the other countires were completely shocked at what we had put on display. The almost unanimous decision states that Konoha Teams 1 & 2 should be promoted to Jounin-"

Predictably, Naruto went off at the mention of another promotion. Everyone in the room could understand the boy's feelings. He was finally getting the recognition he so deserved. Finally, Naruto calmed himself enough to listen to the rest of the conversation.

"As I was saying, you have all been suggested to be promoted to Jounin. This is just as well, as the Village's income of mission requests has more than doubled since the end of the matches. However, I feel it is also time for me to step down as Hokage and for the Godaime Hokage to be chosen. And no, Naruto, not yet."

Naruto looked sullen for a moment before he recovered.

"There is another prerequisite for becoming the Hokage. That is you must either take on a single apprentice for several years or raise a Genin team of your own, neither of which you have done. Which brings me to my next point. This Academy year was bursting to capacity with well over the usual thirty students. I'm afraid straight after your promotions, I will have to assign you Genin teams, as they completed the Genin exams just yesterday, and are awaiting your decision to announce the teams to the Genin. Please take some time to look over your teams."

With that, the Hokage got out of his chair, and walked to the wall, where then Jounin flak jackets were hanging. The other former Jounin instructors of the teams helped by giving their own students their flak jackets. They all took off their Chunin jackets and replaced them with their Jounin ones. _'Can anyone actually tell me what the visual difference is between a Chunin and Jounin flak jacket? I'd be interested to know.'_ Sarutobi went back to his seat and motioned them to come forward, which they all did. One at a time, Sarutobi handed each of them a piece of paper with the profiles of the new would-be Genin on it. Ironically, Naruto had gotten the new Team 7. Even more ironically, each of the members resembled the old Team Seven's members the more he looked at them and their Academy scores. The only difference was that this team only had three instead of the four that had been on the previous Team Seven. There was the top of the class guy, a girl with shockingly small a chakra cpaacity, but she had perfect chakra control. The last guy made Naruto almost stop breathing. He was the 'dobe' of the class who everyone shunned. Even more suprisingly, the boy had an unusually large chakra capacity, but almost zero chakra control. He was loving the prospects of this. Yukiko broke him out of his train of thought when she kised him on the cheek. Yukiko leaned her chin on his shoulder, looking at the team he had been assigned. Her grin widened to a full blown smile when she saw what he had gotten. Yukiko whispered in his ear.

"What a perfect selection. You should be able to handle them with ease."

"Heh, we'll see. Let me see yours, Yukiko-Chan."

Yukiko showed him hers. It seemed to be an amusing mix of people. If anything, it was Team Gai incarnate. The fact that having Hanabi, a boy with HUGE brows and a boy who was apparently his generation's weapon expert didn't help to try and think otherwise. Naruto chuckled.

"I sincerely hope for your sake that mr fuzzy brows junior doesn't use those corny 'springtime of youth' speeches."

Yukiko groaned at the prospect, but Naruto just nuzzled his head closer and whispered so only she could hear.

"After all, I couldn't have my wife and the mother of my children going insane now, could I?"

This had the desired effect on Yukiko. She stiffened slightly before relaxing and trying to get deeper into Naruto's embrace, purring softly. This caught the attention of the people nearest them who gave them an odd look, which they ignored. Kyubi decided to make his opinion heard.

_**'I have to admit it, kit. That was really smooth. You might even become as good as me one day.'**_

_'Know what the cool thing is? All you will be able to do is watch as I get to make hot, passionate-'_

_**'You're a bastard, you know that?'**_

_'I've known that for a VERY long time. Old news, furball.'_

Kyubi sulked in silence at the fact that he had once again lost in a verbal sparring match against the retched human. Yukiko could see the smug look of satisfaction on her husband's face, knowing that there was really only one thing that could give him that kind of satisfaction, and it involved a 'furball', and a few choice words thown at each other. She seemed to get along a fair bit better with Nibi than Naruto did with Kyubi it seems. The Hokage coughed to get their attention, which made Naruto sigh.

"Why does everyone have to cough to get our attention?"

Everyone had secretly been wondering the same thing, but they put that thought aside for now. The Hokage looked up at them.

"Are their any complaints of the teams?"

Everyone shook their heads, which the Hokage smiled at. He took another puff of his pipe and then looked at them.

"Our situation is very dangerous at the moment. We have a lot of new Jounins, but essentialy no Hokage. I'm only doing the bare minimum I have to until the replacement arrives. Which brings me to the final point. After introductions to your new teams, I need a few people to go and pick her up. She tends to be stubbourn in these sorts of things, but I think we have enough on our plates as it is. I will need her to be picked up. She is one of the former Sannin and also one of the best medics in existance."

Naruto grinned.

"Tsunade."

The Hokage nodded.

"Correct. I need three volunteers to go with Jiraiya. I also have heard rumours from reliable sources that Orochimaru is after her as well."

Naruto, Sasuke and Yukiko's hands shot up.

"We'll take it, Ojisan. We've all got personal issues with that snake bastard, and we want to settle the score."

The Hokage smiled at them.

"I was actually hoping it would be you three. Of everyone here, you're possibly the best suited to convincing her and making her come back of her own free will. Especially you, Naruto."

Naruto smiled his usual foxy grin at the 'old man'. The Hokage took a final puff of his pipe.

"Very well then. The schedualed meeting time for the mission is tomorrow morning at 7am at the west gate. Jiraiya will give you the mission details once you've arrived at the gate. Are there any questions?"

No one spoke a word so the Hokage smiled at them.

"Well then, this concludes the meeting. Again, congratulations on your promotions. Goold luck to all of you."

They filed out of the room towards the Academy, where Iruka was waiting to meet them. Naruto got excited for obvious reasons.

"Iruka-Sensei! How are you?"

"I'm fine thanks, Naruto. Please come in everyone, we're about to announce the teams."

Iruka led the procession down the hall way to a class room that was unusually noisy. Once they got in, they saw why. It seems that where one student should be sitting normally, there were three. There seemed to be a Massive School Objects Fight going on, or MSOF as it was known when they were in the academy. Iruka walked in, followed by the 10 newly promoted Jounins. Everyone stopped and stared at the odd group of people. Iruka sighed.

"Sorry guys, this class was never one for showing superiors respect."

To prove his point, a boy threw an eraser at Naruto's head, which gave Naruto an opportunity to show these kids how weak they really were. Naruto temporarily body flickered a few metres away and then back to where he was. It gave the impression that Naruto just sort of partially stopped existing for a second before coming back to normal. The Genin had no idea what just happened, but they were speechless. Naruto looked at the boy.

"Did you really think I would let that hit me? I'll show you how to throw an eraser properly. I threw a few of them when I was in the Academy."

Naruto picked it up and aimed it at a book that was standing face up on the table. Naruto looked at the kids behind it.

"You may want to move. This could hurt."

The kids scrambled out of the way, and Naruto flicked the eraser at the book. None of the Genin knew, but the others knew that it had been a severly chakra enchanced flick. The result was that it shot towards the book, through it and imbedded itself halfway into the desk behind them. The kids boggled at it in pure disbelief. They turned back to the boy who was smiling a toothy grin, which made them shudder. Naruto lessened the smile to a smirk.

"If you guys promise to be good for your new Senseis, I'll teach you how to do that. Oh, and sorry to whoever's book that was, I'll replace it."

The kids immediately shut up and listened intently. Naruto chuckled while the other Jounin smirked.

"Never fails. By the way kids, if you had bothered listening to Iruka-Sensei's lessons, you would have been able to learn the basics of that trick. Iruka-Sensei, if you would?"

Iruka sighed. Naruto had ALWAYS had a way to get kids to do what he wanted. He was astounded that he had never asked Naruto how he had done it, but now he knew. Iruka pulled out his clipboard and started rattling off the teams. Once he called out the three team members for each cell and their Jounin instructor, the four of them left the room to introduce themselves to each other. Finally, it got to Team Seven.

"Team Seven: Katayama Daichi. Matsumoto Hibari and Hayashi Kouji. Your Jounin Instructor is Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto waved to them.

"Alright you guys, let's move it!"

The three followed him out the door, painfully awear that everyone left in the room was very jelous that they had gotten the cool one. Naruto decided to bring them to where his Team Seven had their talk with Kakashi. He sat on the railing and motioned them to sit down.

"Alright guys, I'm sure you know by now that I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I really need to get to know about you guys before we actually do anything, so I need to get you guys to introduce yourselves with your names, likes and dislikes, hobbies and dreams. I'll go first. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My likes are my wife's cooking, ramen, and my friends. My dislikes are people who pick on those who are weaker than them, people who judge others by their first impression and a certain organisation. My hobbies are training, hanging out with my friends and teaching. My dream is to surpass all of the previous Hokages and become the best one this has ever seen. You."

He pointed to Daichi.

"You're next."

"My name is Katayama Daichi. I have a few likes, which include hanging out with my friends. I have a lot of dislikes. My hobbies are to train and get stronger. My dream is to be recognised as who I really am and not for being my brother's sibling."

Naruto pointed to the girl.

"Right. Go for it."

"My name is Matsumoto Hibari. My likes include-" Sideways glance at Daichi. "My dislikes are Kouji. My hobbies are-" Naruto groaned mentally. Was Sakura really this bad? "And my dream is to-" Naruto had to fight the increasingly strong mental urge to smack his hand to his forehead. Naruto pointed to Kouji.

"Ok, go."

"My name is Hayashi Kouji. My likes are Ichiraku's ramen-" Naruto nearly choked at this, but he kept listening. "My dislikes are people who understimate others-" Naruto did choke at this, causing him to stop.

"Sorry, keep going."

"My hobbies are to train, and my dream is to get everyone to realise who I am."

Naruto couldn't believe this. This team was his old one minus Yukiko incarnate. IT was a scary thought.

"Well you guys, this is going to be VERY interesting. I'll tell you now that this team is almost exactly what my old Genin team was. The similarities are so close it's startling."

Hibari had a question and raised her hand.

"Yes, Hibari?"

"You said this team was just like your old one right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Who were you from this team?"

Naruto smiled a very toothy grin, causing his Genin to shudder.

"Would you belive me if I told you?"

They nodded.

"Kouji."

They boggled at him. He'd been the Dobe of his class, yet if the rumours were true, he'd beaten all of the revived Hokages by himself? They continued to stare at them. Naruo arched an eyebrow.

"Is it really that hard to believe?"

They all nodded, making Naruto chuckle.

"I remember being like you guys ages ago, nieve. Trust me, once you've been to almost every major village in the east and also the west, your view of the world changes. If you STILL don't believe me, try asking Iruka-Sensei what I used to wear every day until the day of the Genin exams. By the way, I've actually been assigned an S rank mission that myself, my wife and my brother along with Ero-Sennin-"

When Naruto saw the look of blank incomprehension on their faces, he remembered to stop calling Jiraiya 'Ero-Sennin' in front of people who had never heard that name before. Naruto sighed.

"You guys know Jiraiya of the legendary three Sannin?"

They nodded. It was impossible to have not learnt about him from how Iruka exclaimed how great he had been.

"Drop all thoughts of him being great. He's actually a perverted white haired old man who loves frogs."

They stared at Naruto as if he had grown another head. Naruto smiled.

"I would know. I spent 4 years travelling with him. You guys know the Icha Icha books?"

They nodded.

"He wrote them."

They all gagged at this, making Naruto laugh.

"Trust me, each and every Sannin has a massive weakness that will essentially cripple them should you find it. They're powerful until you expose that weakness. Remember this. No person is immortal, or anywhere near close to it. Not even the Kages were. The only beings that were immortal were the nine demon lords, and even all of them have met their demise in a sense."

Naruto's three students litterally drank in his every word like he was some kind of messenger from Kami. Naruto smiled at them.

"Well, most of the teams would have already been dismissed, asked to come to a certain training ground tomorrow morning for a test of some description. However, I may not be back for a while, neither will my wife or my brother, so we're having an extended chat. If you guys have any questions, please ask me."

Kouji had one and put up his hand.

"Naruto-Sensei?"

Naruto looked at him.

"Yes, Kouji?"

"Did you really beat the Shodaime, Nidaime and Yondaime in single combat a few days ago?"

Naruto looked at him and smiled.

"If you were to twist the facts around a bit, you could say that. However, I had my wife and friend, as well as Sarutobi to help me out, but I landed the killing blow on all of them, yes."

They were starting to get the idea that there was far more to Naruto than it originally seemed. They questioned him for another half hour before Naruto saw a familiar bird cirlcing the sky above him.

"Well, sorry to cut it short guys, but I'm being summoned. I'll tell you what. When I get back, we're going to do that test I talked about. However, those of you who fail it will be sent back to the academy to redo their final year of training."

Naruto waved at them.

"Well, it was great to meet you guys. I'm going to get my stuff and get prepared for tomorrow's mission. You guys are free to do what you want until I get back, however, I'd suggest you train. Later!"

With that, Naruto 'poof'ed out of there in a very Kakashi like manner. His students were still trying to wrap their heads around what they had heard as they walked their separate ways.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning, 7 am at the West Gate:**

Unsuprisingly, Sasuke was the first one there. Naruto and Yukiko arrived hand in hand and greeted Sasuke before settling into wait. About half an hour later, Jiraiya had stumbled up to them suffering from a hang over. He'd obviously spent the night 'information gathering', which Naruto and Yukiko were by now used to. Last year, Jiraiya had told them what his 'information gathering' sessions really consisted of. They had to admit, it was a low way to do it, but it was also probably the most efective. Basically, Jiraiya slowly brought the conversation to bare on any rumors of what his target may have been doing that the workers had heard about. Jiraiya nodded drearily to them and then sat down, motioning them to join him. When they did, Jiraiya brought out a booklet and a note. The booklet was a rough collection of gambling sprees Tsunade was suspected to have been on, while the note was from 'anon' and gave a general indication as to where she had last been seen. The note was very recent, and Jiraiya started to brief them on where they would start searching and what to look for. After he had finished, he slowly got up and started trudging out the gate when they heard a distant thundering behind them. They saw three figures emerge. They were Maito Gai, Rock Lee and Yukiko's new apprentice, Maito Lee. They were heading directly for them, and the group started backing away. Gai spoke first.

"Hokage-Sama has ordered us to give you a passionate speech about the flames of youth, which we shall now proceed to do!"

Lee continued without breaking pace.

"You must use your spring time of youth to persuade Tsunade-Sama to return to us!"

Apparently, Maito Lee, as he was called, had taken an extremely unhealthy liking in these two, looking to them as somewhat father figures.

"Use the passion of youth to awe her with your grace!"

By now, the group assigned to retrive Tsunade were nothing but a distant cloud of smoke disappearing over the horizon. The three green spandex wearing super brows looked at each other in confusion. Maito Lee turned to his older role modles.

"Gai-Sensei, Lee-Sensei, why did they run like that?"

Gai thought of the only reason his completely twisted mind could think of.

"They must have been so inspired by our few words that they have increased their efforts to bring Tsunade-Sama back to us!"

He illistrated his point with his nice guy pose, teeth sparkling, which dazzled his aprentices. They accepted this explination without hesitation. It came from Gai-Sensei, therefore, it couldn't be wrong! Fires burned in Lee and Lee jr's eyes. Little did they know that the Hokage actually had no intention of making them listen to their 'spring time of youth' speechs, he'd only used them to give the group an... Incentive... To hurry up. The spandex wearing trio werequickly reduce to rivers of tears and a group hug. Everyone else decided to steer clear in case they spread their disease to them.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Almost a Week Later, on the Outskirts of a Town:**

The group had been following hints and tidbits of information from town to town as they travelled. The whole time, both Yukiko and Naruto had been inspecting Sasuke's Cursed Seal with their Gekke Genkais, much to his dismay. Naruto didn't say it, but her seriously wanted to get rid of the god damn mark and it's influence from his friend. Eventually, they ended up in a rather large town near the edge of the Fire Country. It was a castle town, and home to a rathe wealthy lord of some description. Apparently, the lord had a supreme interest in gambling and drinking. Unfortunately for Jiraiya, there weren't exactly many places to 'gather information'. This was an rare occurance, as when you found a town that thrived on two of these things, the third was almost always there as well. They practically went hand in hand, however, that's not what they were concerned about. They had been travelling almost non stop since the last town which was a day and a half's tree hopping away. By the time they arrived, it was night fall, so they decided to go to the nearest bar for some food before finding an inn and resting for the night, continuing their search in the morning. The second Jiraiya walked in and surveyed the patrons, having one of his many squabbles with Naruto, he stopped when he saw two very familiar looking women. Apparently, they both got the feeling they recognised him too. Jiraiya pointed at the woman.

"TSUNADE!"

Said woman got up, placing her hands on the table.

"JIRAIYA?"

Jiraiya walked over to their table confidently and sat down, motioning the other three to take a seat. They squashed up, but there was enough room. Tsunade in her drunked haze vaguly registered a shock of black, blue and blonde hair. What interested her about the spiked blonde hair is that it's owner also had disturbingly deep blue eyes and a white trench coat that she recognised it from somewhere. She hazarded a guess.

"Arashi? Is that you?"

Naruto's head banged on the table, causing the table's contents to jump. Jiraiya smiled.

"Guess again, Tsunade."

Tsundae had no more ideas. Finally, the only option left slammed home.

"NARUTO?"

Naruto brightened considerably.

"Yup!"

Tsunade was shocked to say the least. She had never expected for Naruto to be so handsom... It must have showed, because the shock of blue hair put her arm around Naruto.

"Sorry, Tsunade-Sama, but the way your looking at my husband is quite disturbing."

Tsunade had no idea what was in her morning Sake, but whatever it was, it was damn good. Today had been so full of strange and wonderful reunions and events that it just seemed surreal. She resolved herself to hunt down the seller and buy him out of the stuff, leaving a promissary note, of course.

"Husband?"

Sasuke sighed.

"Yes, Naruto and Yukiko are engaged, but also married in a sense."

Tsunade had no clue where this was going, so she decided to play along.

"Oh, what do you mean?"

"Well, Naruto died killing the Shodaime, Nidaime and Yondaime that Orochimaru resurrected, and Naruto sort of married Yukiko before he died, with Hokage-Sama as the priest. Hotaru resurrected him about a week later."

It was settled. The second she got out of here, she was definitely going to hunt the man down and make him give her a life time supply of Sake. This was the best hallucination she'd ever had. Obviously, it showed, and Jiraiya sighed.

"Tsunade, what they're saying is absolutely true. Orochimaru resurrected the Hokages with a forbidden jutsu, while Naruto killed all of them with Shiki Fuujin. Yukiko managed to drain Orochimaru's arms souls before he fled."

Reality hit Tsunade like a ton of bricks. No matter how good she thought this hallucination was, it the pieces fit far too perfectly for it to be fake. Orochimaru had just made an appearance early today with his arms in a seriously damaged condition, claiming some blue haired demon loving bitch from Konoha had done it. Here was said girl sitting across from her. If this girl really had that kind of power, she was good, VERY good. And now the reality that Naruto had not only bested the Shodaime and Nidaime, but YONDAIME in battle all at the same time really struck home. She didn't let itshow asshe pulled out a stack of cards from inside her shirt and began shuffling.

"What do you want from me?"

Tsunade placed the deck of cards in the middle of the table. Jiraiya picked up the top half of the deck and then the bottom half, and shuffled them.

"I'll get straight to the point."

Jiraiya placed the reshuffled pile back in the middle of the table before looking her straight in the eye.

"Tsunade. Sarutobi has requested that you replace him as the Godaime Hokage."

Tsunade's hand, which had just rested on top of the card pile flinched slightly before freezing. Tsundade quickly recovered and began dealing cards to her, Jiraiya, Naruto, Yukiko and Sasuke. They all picked up their hands and inspected them. Nothing was said for a while as everyone replaced some oftheir cards. Naruto let a smiled touch the corner of his lips at his hand. A full house. Finally, Tsunade spoke.

"Not possible."

Tsunade looked straight into Jiraiya's eyes.

"I refuse."

Jiraiya continued smiling as he threw down his cards, reveal two pairs. Sasuke threw down his hand to reveal a tripple, whike Yukiko had four of a kind. Naruto threw down his hand, quite content with himself. Everyone stared at his hand, then at him. Naruto shrugged.

"I don't know why, but I always win."

If he told them the truth, they'd accuse him of cheating. However, it wasn't his fault that an annyoingly stupid fox kept telling him what to do to win, reguardless of how many times it was told to shut it.

Jiraiya kept smiling at Tsunade.

"I remember that line. I asked you for a date and you turned me down, saying the same thing."

Naruto, Yukiko and Sasuke stared at Jiraiya disbelivingly. Him? Ask a girl out on a date? The mere thought might just cause the world to implode with the impossibility of the notion. Naruto decided to question him.

"You? Ask a girl out on a date? I thought that 'women fall for your masculine beauty' or somesuch nonsense. Ero-Sennin, you're not fooling anyone. Anyway, why bother staying if she refuses? Sure, I may just have got my Genin team but-"

"Right now, Tsunade is the only one capeable of becoming the Godaime Hokage. During the firce war, she contributed greatly to Konoha's victory. Her medical skills are about bothYukiko's and Hotaru's level, while her combat ability is about your level, with Sakura's strength. She is also the granddaughter of the Shodaime Hokage. Combine that with her abilities, and she's most suited for being the Godaime Hokage. If she does become Hokage, she'll have to go back to the village. Also, this decision was made between Sarutobi-Sensei and the council. Although you're a Tokubestu Jounin, you have very little say in this matter."

Tsunade 'hmph'ed and picked up her new hand, as did everyone else. Tsunade had the cards still in a miniture stack as she helled them in front of her. The top card was an Ace of Hearts.

"Jiraiya, this apprentice of yours seems even louder, obnoxious, and disrespectful than your previous one."

Naruto tensed at this, which everyone noticed. It was fine to insult him, but insulting his father usually meant people usually found that their heads or another extremitywould gomissing. The only thing that stopped him from doing just that was the fact that this woman was supposed to be the next Hokage. Jiraiya laughed.

"You should have seen him when I first got him. He's a gentleman now compaired to back then. It's hard to beat the Yondaime in any of those fields. Naruto's skills are the only ones who rival his through out history. He was tallented with Jutsus, incredibly smart and also very popular. He was also incredibly handsom like me. Naruto also has all of these qualities, although he had a far harder time obtaining them than his father did, which I'm sure you can understand."

"But even the fourth died young."

Naruto's head jerked around. His eyes were quickly turning red, a sure fire sign that if whoever didn't stop what they were doing right now, they were done for. However, Tsunade continued, heedless as to the fact that Naruto was briming with anger.

"He threw his life away for his village."

Tsunade spread her fingers to show the next card. It was a Jack of Hearts. She continued on with her little speech.

"Life isn't like money. Only an idiot can bet his life so easily."

Naruto's patience was quickly snapping. Faint waves of red chakra were rolling off him. Everyone gave Tsunade desperate looks to stop, but she paid them no heed, assuming she saw them at all.

"My grandfather and the Nidaime wished to stop the war, but they wasted their lives before they could accomplish that."

Narutp's chopsticks shattered and the chakra around him began growing in intensity. Do they really believe this fool of a woman could actually take such a sacred position as the Hokage with this kind of an attitude? Tsunade spread her fingers a bit more to reveal the next card, a Queen of Hearts. Jiraiya made an observation.

"You've changed, Tsunade. I don't know what you've been thinking, but you put it into words."

Tsunade made a half laugh and rested her chin on the back of her hand.

"I'm in my fifties, even if I look like this. Time changes people."

Tsunade spread her fingers a bit more to reveal a Ten of Hearts. Tsunade looked over the top of her cards.

"Sarutobi-Sensei is the same. If an old man tired to act brave, of course he'll get hurt."

Everyone was starting to have serious doubts as to if this was really Tsunade. Was she that blind that she couldn't feel the huge red chakra surging from the blonde boy? Even the entire room had noticed. The Chakra was litterally flying off him! Tsunade turned back to her hand and spread the last card to reveal... A Four of Spades. She threw her cards on the table, sighed and looked at the roof.

"The title of Hokage is a piece of crap. Only an idiot becomes one."

That did it. Naruto couldn't take any more and blurred across the table, slamming Tsunade against the wall and still pushing, causing the wall to crack. His voice scared the hell out of most of the people in the room.

"**I was willing to put up with you insulting me. I was almost willing to put up with you insulting my father. But then you proceeded to sully every single Hokage's reputation, and then had the ordasity to call the position of Hokage 'a piece of crap', saying that only an idiot becomes one! Sannin or not, female or not, I'm going to make sure you learn your lesson right here and now, you old hag."**

Tsunade was amazed at the boy's strength, but recovered and tried to make herself look tough.

"Let's take this outside, kid."

"**With pleasure."**

Naruto threw Tsunade down the corridor and out the door, charging out after her. Jiraiya, Shizune, Yukiko and Sasuke hurried outside to watch this. Tsunade got up from her crater in the wall and stood about 30 metres away from Naruto, who had already gone into the first tail. Everyone who knew him could tell he was really, really, REALLY pissed off. Tsunade took no notice and did an axe kick from where she stood. However, once he heel connected with the ground, the street cracked and rumbled, splitting into a chasm as it raced for Naruto. Naruto took no notice and shot a chakra hand towards her. What he didn't expect was that she caught the hand and dragged him towards her with it, despite the fact it was obviously burning her. She connected a devistating punch to his face which would have killed any normal man, however Naruto got right back up and charged her on all fours, flying from wall to wall and finally pulled back a fist and began charging it with chakra. Naruto's fist connected with Tsunade's gut, sending her flying a good 50 meters down the street. Tsunade got back up and charged the boy with amazing speed, punching him right on the forhead protector, sending it flying. She stood, watching him get up, and she decided to find out what exactly was wrong with this boy.

"Oi, Gaki! Let me ask you one thing before you pass out. Why do you care so much about the title of Hokage?"

"Unlike you, I will gain the title of Hokage and surpass all those before me. Because becoming Hokage is my dream."

Tsunade's eyes widened in disbelief at what this kid had just said. Her head dropped, and Naruto saw his chance. He'd been practicing a new jutsu combo, and decided to try it now. He started forming an Odama Rasengan on one hand, keeping it in place with a hand that he kept still over the top of it, while using Hiraishin no Jutsu to propel himself forwards at amazing speeds, leaving behind a yellow and red streak that was surrounded by 6 red helix spirals. Tsunade was caught off guard, but recovered quickly enough to do another axe kick and split the ground into a chasm, Naruto dodged the hole easily, but the sudden change in movement caused Naruto to suddenly lose concerntraition for a split second. This was all it needed however, as the Odama Rasengan exploded, causing him to fly back into Yukiko's waiting arms. Tsunade was shocked at the level of creativeness this brat had put into the attack. He'd not only improved both of his father's trademark jutsus, but also combined both of them into one, however, it was still incomplete, as any slight disturbance was aparently all that was needed to break the jutsu. Naruto was apparently struggling to stand back up again. Tsunade had no doubt if that had hit her, people would be finding pieces of her scattered across town for weeks. Tsunade looked at Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya? Were you the one who gave him the idea for that jutsu?"

Jiraiya smiled.

"Not entirely. He created the improvisations, and with a subtle suggestion from me, tried combining them."

"Are you really acting like a teacher, giving him ideas for a jutsu that he has no chance of mastering? That's why this kid likes to daydream that he's going to be Hokage one day."

Naruto stood up, once again full of determination.

"The hell I'm daydreaming! I'm closer than you are right now! In fact, I'd say I can master the move in three days!"

"You said it, gaki. A man never takes back his words."

"Damn straght I don't! That's my nindo!"

"Then let's make a bet. I'll give you a week to master this move. If you lose, you quit your dream."

Naruto liked the odds of this. The prize for winning would definitely be worth it.

"And if I win?"

"Assuming that would ever happen, I'll acknowledge that you will become Hokage, and I'll also give you this necklace."

Shizune started.

"Tsunade-Sama! That's an important..."

"What makes you even think I want that hideous necklace?"

Everyone turned to Naruto, and Jiraiya started talking him into it.

"Naruto, do you realise that the amount of material that necklace is made of could buy three mountains?"

"That's not why it's hideous. It is indeed a rare metal, but it's the metal's properties that make want to grind it to dust right now."

They stared at Naruto, waiting for an explination, so Naruto sighed and told them what that necklace was.

"To me, that necklace is more a threat than a prize. If someone who knew a certain jutsu caught me wearing that thing, they could kill me in a few seconds and release Kyubi upon the world again. Only Jinchuriki's can wear it without dying. Those closely related to one might be able to survive, but they will suffer severe negative side effects from it assuming they survive at all."

Tsunade realised just what she had unintentionally done to Nawaki and Dan. She had killed them. Killed them with apparent kindness. She began to question herself when Naruto chuckled.

"On the other hand, the only people who can do that jutsu are the Shodaime Hokage himself, or any other person who is the container for Hachibi. So in a sense, I will have one half of the things required to control all the bijus and their containers. Not that'd I'd want to control most of them, since their containers are people very close to me, but I'd be worth it in some ways for the others."

Naruto was imagining what he could do to a certain fish face if he won the bet and somehow learnt the jutsu, and decided to accept.

"Fine, I accept."

Tsunade smiled.

"One week from today. Better get training, gaki. Shizune, let's go."

Tsunade turned and left Shizune to mumble an appology to the others before following after Tsunade. They left Naruto's group to find a hotel for the night.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A Bit Later that Night, In Naruto & Yukiko's Room:**

Naruto was doing one of his favorite things he did with Yukiko when they had some private time alone, which appeared to be getting fewer and further between these days. A cuddle session. The idea had been foreign at first, but Naruto had found he really liked them. Naruto was just about to bite Yukiko's neck gently when there was a knock at their door. Naruto growled and got up, putting a long shirt over his chest to cover his chest and his boxers while Yukiko put on some of her own clothes, also clearly peeved their time had been cut short. The knock came again and he was just about to open the door when it opened for him, revealing Shizune on the other side.

"I'm sorry for the late night visit. Naruto-Kun, I need to talk to you for a while."

Naruto formed a half glare at her.

"I was in the middle of some precious time alone with my wife. This had better be good."

"I'm very sorry, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea about Tsunade-Sama. Also, I need to tell you about the history of that necklace."

Naruto sighed and let her in. His private time alone with his wife was once again interrupted, so he might as well make the most of it.

"I really don't care about her or that necklace's past."

Shizune was clearly getting pissed off as she raised her voice.

"Tsunade-Sama is not the sort of person you think she is!"

"How would you know that? I have a fairly good idea of why she's like that."

"Really? Then explain."

"She was fooloish enough to give the necklace to others, not having any idea what it would do to them. Judging by her hatred for the Hokages, she had given it to people who had the same dream as me, probalby those she was close to. All of them died. That's the most likely senario I can come up with."

Shizune was absolutely horrifed that the boy could be so precise and hit the nail dead on. Naruto sighed.

"What I said back in the street was entirely true. That necklace is corrupted. It will kill all things that are not demon containers with enough time, and the demon containers who wear it run the risk of being forced to do as the container for Hachibi wants. It's a truly disgusting piece of rock that should never have been brought to the mortal world. But, I still would like to know who these people were that got the necklace."

Shizune nodded and began recounting the sad tale of Tsunade's life, beginning with her proposal for a medic nin on every squad, to the death of her younger brother to the death of her lover. Naruto had been right. Naruto shook his head.

"Thanks for letting me know, Shizune. Right now, I'm going to go train. I'm going to take that necklace from her and make sure it never kills again."

Shizune stared as Naruto got changed into his regular clothing, which Yukiko did as well. Ever since they had started training for this jutsu, Yukiko had always been asigned to heal Naruto after each failed attempt. The results of a failed attempt were to say the least, vicious. Without Yukiko's healing abilties, the best he could hope for was one try a day, two if he was really desperate.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning, Near a Waterfall Outside the Village:**

Naruto had been training all night and well into the morning. Yukiko had discovered a problem. She used blood pills to help Naruto recover his blood, but they had both long ago worked out that soldier pills had practically no effect on demonic chakra. This was all well and good for her, as she could use the soldier pills to recover her normal chakra every once and a while to help healing, but Naruto had to rely on almost purely demonic chakra for the jutsu. The Hiraishin could easily use regular chakra, however, the Odama Rasengan used up a hefty amount of the demonic chakra, even for a being such as the Kyubi. Yukiko surveyed the scene around them. The area resembled the surface of the moon somewhat. There were massive craters everywhere. There was also a number of blood puddles everywhere. Luckily for Naruto, Blood regeneration was rarely a problem, which was only reinforced by the blood pills. The day progressed, and the training continued. This went on for almost the entire week, with neither of them coming back from training. The night before the end of the agreed week, Naruto and Yukiko returned exahusted. They flopped down on their bed, to tired to do anything and just fell asleep.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning:**

Naruto and Yukiko were fast asleep in bed, not having heard the exchange between Tsunade and Shizune which ended up with Shizune lying unconcious on the ground. Naruto was the first to wake up and managed to see a mainly black form lying on the ground near the foot of the bed. Naruto got up, and walked over to the figure to reveal it was Shizune. Naruto shook Yukiko awake and pointed to Shizune when she gave him a pout. That quickly stopped her, and she quickly set to work healing the minor injury she had to her ribs. Shizune awoke with a start, and looked to see it was well and truly morning. She looked at Nauruo in horror.

"What time is it? No, what day of the week is it?"

"Monday..."

Shizune shot up with a start and ran to the window, opening it and prepared to jump out when her danger sense told her not to. Luckily, she didn't and a kunai went whizzing past her head, imbedding itself in a pipe next to here. Shizune looked to see a very tired looking Jiraiya, who was sweating and panting profusly while leaning up against the wall.

"Wait, Shizune."

They managed to get Jiraiya up against the balcony. By now, Sasuke had heard the comotion and he was with them, checking over Jiraiay with his Sharingan, as Jiraiya told them what happened.

"Damn that Tsunade. She put something in my sake. Now I can't even mold chakra correctly. On top of that, my body feels numb and I can't throw knives correctly. She's still a medical specialist, reguardless ofher current state. Only she could make a tastless, odorless drug that works against ninjas. I didn't expect her to find an oportunity to poison me, even if I was slightly drunk."

Shizune had gone to fetch a pitcher of water and a glass, which Jiraiya gladly accepted.

"Jiraiya-Sama, how are you feeling?"

"Better than I was at dawn."

Jiraiya held out the glass, which Shizune refilled.

"However, I've only recovered about thirty percent so far."

Little did they know that they were all being spied on by a Sound nin. This was a new one, which Orochimaru had gotten to replace Kabuto with as his right hand man and medical specialist. He had pure white hair, which cascaded around his head and shoulders like a mop. He had a short angular face with high cheekbones and black eyes and wore the Oto hitai-ate. He sported a fairly simmilar style of clothing to what Kabuto was known to wear. However, instead of the purple colour Kabuto had worn, he opted for mostly white, with a purple sash made of what appeared to be dyed medical tape. Over the sash was one of the typical Oto purple rope knots seen on the higher ranking members of the Oto community. He was a fairly lanky man, obviously relying on agility and intelligence over brute force. His mission of confirming the size and personel of the enemy force complete, he body flickered away, which did not go unnoticed by anyone. Jiraiya tured to Shizune.

"Shizune, you're going to tell us everything you two talked about with Orochimaru, now."

Shizune hung her head in obvious shame.

"I wanted to believe in Tsunade-Sama, so I couldn't say it before now..."

Shizune stood up with a look of pure determination on her face.

"We don't have much time. Please follow me! I will expalin while we move!"

With that, they lep from roof to roof after Shizune, who seemed to be leading them to the destroyed castle. She began explaining Tsunade's highly unusual wining streak, which was follwoed by Orochimaru crushing the castle with a snake and making her a deal. In exachange for healing his arms, he would revive both her brother and lover using Edo Tensei. They were hoping to make it in time for the exchange, but unfortunately for them, said exchange was just commencing and they were still quite far away from the castle grounds. Tsunade had agreed to the trade, with one aditional rule. 'Don't lay a finger on the village.' Orochimaru had agreed and they began walking towards each other when Orochimaru's right hand man landed silently on a nearby rooftop, overseeing the exchange. The man watched intently as Tsunade formed a sphere of green chakra between her hands as she held it out. Orochimaru brought his arms forward, seeking the salvation of the green light when a kunai whistled in the wind, landing right where both of their arms had been. The Oto medic nin jumped forward to land behind his leader. Orochimaru stared at Tsunade.

"What is the meaning of this... You've betrayed me at the very last minute... Tsunade... Tell me... How did you come up with your answer... Tsunade-Hime?"

This personal jab was ignored as Orochimaru continued with his angsty speech which he was oh so good at.

"You tried to kill me."

Tsunade had to bite back from screaming insults at how obvious that was.

"And, Raido, I trust you deep down inside. Your loyalty and the insite into Tsunade's actions impressed me."

"I do come from a medical squad like her after all, Orochimaru-Sama. It was easy to tell that the chakra was filled with the intent to kill instead of the usual intent to heal."

Orochimaru sighed for dramatic effect, putting on his best puppy dog voice, which suffice to say, made him sound like a squashed cat.

"Tsunade, I really intend to revive those two... And I even promised not to crush Konoha."

"That's exactly the point."

This caused the other two to stare at her.

"The promise to revive them was real enough, but the promise to leave Konoha alone was a lie. I knew... Yet, I wanted... To see them again... Just once more I wanted to see them... Just once more, I wanted to touch them... Just once more I wanted to see their smiles...But... When I felt I could see Nawaki and Dan again, I realised something... That I was a fool. Just remembering their faces... Blinded my sight... I loved them... I really loved them, so I wanted to see them and hug them! But because that gaki, I remebered what their dreams were... It was an important dream they both strived for. It was also my wish for that dream to come true. All things with a form eventually perish, that's what you said. But... This feeling won't perish."

Now, Orochimaru was usually on the end of giving angsty speechs, and he secretly considered himself the king of angst. However, it was rare to recive such a heart felt angsty speech from someone he knew, let alone anyone else. Had it come from anyone else, he would have stopped them less than half way though it. However, he quickly covered up.

"It seems negotiations have broken down... I will now have to ask you by force."

Tsunade wiped the last of the tears from her eyes and calmed herself before charging Orochimaru and Raido with a flying axe kick which practically turned everything around her into a 40 foot wide crater. She looked up at her counterpart with a look of pure determination.

"Bring it on, Orochimaru!"

Orochimaru laughed.

"Come to think of it, I've never fought you before."

Tsunade took of her green coat and let it billow in the wind before letting go of it and charging the wall they had landed on.

"You're right."

Raido obviously wasn't impressed.

"That's big talk, considering I'm the one who's going to be fighting her."

Tsunade jumped into the air, slamming her fist into the wall, causing that section to crumble.

"I'm goingto kill you worthless bastard right here, right now!"

Both of the Sound nin backflipped into a nearby tree.

"She still has that monsterous strength. One hit from that, and you're done for."

"It certainly seems like it. This place is too compact to fight and keep distance between us."

Orochimaru listened to his right hand man's suggestion.

"Are you going to change locations?"

"That seems best for now. A group of troublesome people are with Shizune. They might try and back Tsunade-Sama up."

They both lept off the branch just as Tsunade tried a roundhouse kick to both their heads and then antother axe kick to the tree branch, snapping it like a twig. The Oto nins hit the ground at a dead run. Orochimaru turned his head to his subordinate in intrest.

"And who would these troublesome people be?"

"They include the last of the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya-Sama, as well as the former traitor's sister, the younger Uchiha and the Nine Tails boy."

Orochimaru knew exactly how much trouble they were in if that group came to reinforce Tsunade. It would be unlikely to escape alive, and escaping unharmed was a physical impossibility.

"Troublesome indeed."

By now, the group being talked about had reached where the path of destruction had begun. Naruto looked at the path leading straight through the walls into the field, where he could vaguely make out fighting.

"Man, and I thought Sakura-Chan's strength was scary..."

Yukiko nodded in agreement. Shizune gathered up Tsunade's cloak and Naruto pointed to the fighting.

"They're over there. I can just see them."

Shizune looked doubtful for a moment before she remembered who Naruto was, and accepted it. Tonton, after sniffing Tsunade's cloak, seemed to agree with Naruto. They charged through the obliterated walls to the source of the destruction. They arrived just in time to see Raido raising a kunai to plunge it into Tsunade's chest. Sasuke pickd a smoke bomb from his pack and chucked it at Tsunade. It bounced off her back lightly and exploded. Raido jumped back and wated for the smoke to clear, revealing that the back up they had so dreaded had finally arrived. Yukiko raised a hand in greeting.

"Yo, snake bastard. I'll make sure to get the rest of your soul this time."

Raido stared in horror at the girl. This teenager was the one who had ripped part of Orochimaru's soul out? He knew they were way out of his league, but he decided to try and bluff his way out of it.

"That depends on if you can kill me first."

To illistrate his point, he charged Tsunade and then in a very unexpected move, drew a kunai and stabbed himself in the hand, spraying blood all over Tsunade who instantly started quivering. Raido sneered.

"So, the great Tsunade-Sama of the three legendary Sannins, hailed as the world's best medic is afraid of a bit of blood? How pathetic."

With that, he punched the quivering woman in the face, sending her flying to the ground, where Shizune broke her fall. Naruto looked at the man.

"Well, I'm guessing you're Kabuto-San's replacement. You don't look like much, but then again, I learnt long ago that underestimating your opponents usually proves fatal. Let's see what you've got."

Naruto and Raido charged, exchanging blows while Jiraiya and Orochimaru faced off. Everyone else was left to watch or treat Tsunade. Raido quickly proved his was far more adept at dodging and getting the ocasional sneeky strike in than he was at fighting as Naruto would call it 'like a man'. Naruto growled and jumped back before the man could use a chakra scapel on his leg. Naruto looked at the man.

"Your fighting style really suits your personality you know that?"

Raido decided to ignore the obvious jab, and countered.

"As does yours."

"How so?"

"You charge into every situation blindly-"

"Leaving you open to attack."

The last part had come from behind Naruto, and Naruto saw a Kage Bunshin behind him. Naruto didn't have time to react as the Kage Bunshin used a chakra scapel on both of Naruto's legs and then 'poof'ed out of existance, leaving Naruto to crumple to his knees. The real Raido ran at Naruto and punched him in the face in a simmilar fashion as he had done to Tsunade just before. Raido threw the kunai he had in his hands up into the air, where it twirled and then caught it again on it's way back down. This action, although insignificant in itself, gave Naruto an idea. Naruto looked at Yukiko.

"Can you fix my legs? I have an idea."

Yukiko immedaitely began fixing his legs, but Raido knew better than to let her. Shizune tried to give Yukiko enough time to heal her husband's legs, and spat some needles out of her mouth, before revealing the ones mounted in launchers on her arm and fired them as well. Raido was having enough difficulty dodging the needles, let alone move forward. He was actually being forced backwards. It seemed that was all the time Yukiko needed as she finished healing his legs. Naruto stood up and smiled.

"Yukiko-Chan, there's novertical flat surface to push off, so I need you to throw me at him with a much force as possible."

Yukiko looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow, but she knew better to second guess him. Yukiko grabbed Naruto by the legs, spinning him around several times before launching him at Raido, who was now a fair distance away due to the constant needle dodging. Naruto started rotating in a barrel roll and formed an Odama Rasengan in between his two hands, which were rotating around the ball so fast that it kept it's perfect sphere with little effort. Naruto decided to engage the final part of the jutsu, the Hiraishin. The image was awe inspring. The red Odama Rasengan formed at the very front of the streak, with the yellow of the Hiraishin coming off it in a roughly parabolic cone shape while the red chakra continued through the centre of the yellow, and also surrounded the trail with six red helix shaped spirals. Everyone had stopped to watch this. It was like seeing a comet streak across the field, ripping the turf up on either side of it. Naruto annouced the jutsu as he was about to collide with Raidon.

"**Ryusei no Jutsu!"**

As the name said, it was made in the image of a comet. Raidon had no clue that Naruto could pull off something like this and was even more suprised at the sheer pain it caused when it impacted his stomach. He screamed in agony as the comet ripped through his clothing like it was made of tissue paper and started drilling into his stomach. Naruto soon realised he had a problem. Although the jutsu was officially complete, this guy seemed to be able to somehow hold it at bay. Naruto sensed a great deal of chakra gathering to the man's stomach constantly. Naruto realised he must be using the chakra to shield himself enough to mean that the Ryusei was not a fatal attack that would kill him the second it hit him. Naruto knew this kind of shileding required huge amounts of chakra and was usually fairly inefective against jutsus that had a concerntraited area of damage like the Chidori or the Rasengan and their variants. It still seemed to do the job though, as the comet quickly lost it's rotation and speed as it forced Raidon back, taking Naruto out of the Hiraishin. Raidon saw his chance and attempted to sever the muscles surrounding Naruto's heart with a chakra scalpel. The key word was try, because at that moment, Naruto realised that his hands weren't rotating around the Odama Rasengan fast enough to maintain it, and it promptly exploded, sending both of them flying back. Yukiko caught Naruto, while Raido was left to slam through a rock that was sticking out of the ground and then into another one, which just absorbed his impact. Tsundae was possibly the most shocked.

"He... He mastered it!"

Tsunade ran over to him shakily, before checking his body for any wounds. Naruto was sitting up breathing heavily. He'd done it, but it's taken a HELL of a lot of conerntraition and chakra to do it. Using both Kyubi's and his own chakra at the same time while maintaining an Odama Rasengan was no small feat. While she was doing this, Naruto grabbed the necklace around her neck.

"I won, fair and square..."

Tsunade put Naruto's hand down, taking the necklace off and placing it on Nartuo's neck.

"One more time... One more time I want to believe... In you."

Yukiko hugged Naruto while Sasuke was just a tad more than mildly impressed, to say the least. Shizune was smiling and Jiraiya was rather smug. Orochimaru had a somewhat fearful look in his eyes when he looked at Naruto. He decided to take his chances and kill him now while the boy was weakened. He jumped forward, sailing through the air while Jiraiya followed him. Orochimaru turned his body around and used his snake like tongue to take Jiraiya by the foot and slam him into the ground, causing a crater. Continuing, using his his tongue which was still attached to Jiraiya's foot to send him flying again, Orochimaru let go of Jiraiya andswiped the others out of the way of the blonde with his tongue much like he had with Jiraiya, who were not expecting it in the least, leaving only Tsunade to guard Naruto, still tembling from her fear of blood. From the snake Sennin's mouth came a snake, which opened it's mouth to protrude the Sword of Kusanagi. Tsunade blocked the sword at the last minute with her body, the sword piercing her upper chest. Everyone was a little more than shocked at this. Tsunade coughed up a chunk of blood, causing Orochimaru to withdraw the sword and his head from what would otherwise be a very compromising position, sucking them back into his mouth. Swallowing, he looked at Tsunade in interest.

"Tsunade, I never intended to kill you. If he survives, things will become complicated for various reasons later on. Please don't interfere."

Tsunade was still quivering from her phobia, but she managed to speak.

"I will... I WILL protect this child!"

"Why is a Sannin like you, who blances at the sight of blood, trying to protect a Jounin like him with her life?"

Tsunade breathed heavily for a while before coughing up two chunks of blood. She stared at Orochimaru determinately.

"To protect the Hidden Village of Konoha, our village!"

Orochimaru really didn't like where this was going. REALLY didn't like it.

"To protect Konoha?"

Tsunade turned back to see the boy staring at her in shock and disbelief. She smiled slightly at him before answering.

"Because... Because... This boy will follow in the footsteps of his father... And become the greatest Hokage yet."

Orochimaru laughed, causing Tsunade to turn back to him.

"What nonsense. Besides, being Hokage is a piece of crap. Only an idiot becomes one!"

Tsunade was surprised to no end that Orochimaru used the words she had used no less than a week ago. She slowly stood up, keeping her eyes closed so as not to brake the frail thread of hope she had left.

"From now on, I'm fighting with my life!"

Orochimaru bent down, smiling in that oh so familiar sadistic fashion of his.

"If you're going to throw your life away for a kid like that... Then die a quick death suitable for that sort of life!"

Orochimaru threw his head back and brought forth the Sword of Kusanagi and in the same snake like motion, brought it in a sweeping strike from her left shoulder down to just below her bust. Tsunade fell back in slow motion as the the others started to come back to their senses in time to see her hit the ground and stop moving. Shizune screamed for her sensei.

"Tsunade-Sama!"

Orochimari continued walking towards Naruto confidently, who was still only just able to move, but no where near fast enough to escape the Sannin, so he decided to stand defiant in his death, a true hero's death. Orochimaru brought the sword sweeping around as everyone tried to stop him in his own way, however, it was Tsunade again to the rescue, taking the sword hit to her side. Orochimaru was very disturbed. He'd cut through her lungs and she could still move? Orochimaru quickly covered up his amazement by throwing his head to the side, letting the wind rusle though his hair for dramatic effect.

"Hmph. You're still going to take hits for that Gaki?"

"I told you... From now on..."

Tsundae turned her head to glare at Orochimaru.

"I'm fighting with my life!"

Orochimaru was getting really bored with this, and he let his anger slip though, kicking Tsunade off Naruto.

"Just die already!"

Orochimaru walked right next to Naruto, who could do nothing. His body screamed at him to move, yet his muscles had no energy left to do that. Naruto was fighting just to sit upright. Orochimaru, thankfully, had no interest in him at this moment, however, that could change in a split second.

"Even if you try and act all vallient, you won't stop trembling. You cannot escape from the curse of Hemophobia. I don't understand why you keep getting hurt for that gaki, and continue fighting for Konoha."

Suddenly, Tsunade's body stopped trembling. Orochimaru had just enough time to register the fact when he felt a snap kick to the jaw from a high heal that was attached to Tsunade's foot. Tsunade finished Orochimaru's obvious train of thought.

"It's beacause I am... The Hidden Village of Konoha's Godaime Hokage!"

The little purple diamond on her forhead turned the colour of Orochimaru's purple chakra and began tracing strange patterns across her forehead. Naruto was wrapped. He activated his Ingan despite the pain it caused him and looked in wonder at the marvolously complex seal working it's way across Tsunade's foreheaed. Orochimaru got up and looked at her warily.

"What are you planning to do? Even if you got over your hemophobia, you can't fight with those injurues."

Tsunade 'hmph'ed and formed a ram seal. Naruto had a fair idea of what this seal was going to do, but Shizune's reaction confirmed it.

"Tsunade-Sama! I will heal your injuries! Please don't use that seal!"

Tsunade paid no attention as she started to be surrounded by a red aura. Not the blood red aura of the Kyubi, but more a warm, even raidiating red glow. Her pigtails waved as if in some imaginary wind and she announced her jutsu.

"Fuuinkai! Ninpou, Souzou Saisei!"

The lines on her face began retreating and the healing began. Steam emitted from her wounds as they rapidly sealed up, much like demonic regerneration, however, this was not regeneration. Orochimaru laughed.

"It looks like I wasn't the only one developing new jutsus. Tell me, what kind of jutsu was that?"

"Nothing much. I've been accumulating chakra to my forehead for a while now. I used the masive amount of chakra to stimulate the proteins in my body to increase the rate of cell division and the reconstruction of cells. I can regrow all organs and tissues. It's not a regeneration ability, but a creation ability. In other words, I won't die in battle."

Naruto thought to himself.

_'No, you won't, but you'll die thirty seconds after it if you use it too often.'_

Naruto had had enough of sitting around and demanded the Kyubi's chakra, as he was far to prone. It would have some serious effects later, such as possible chakra exhaustion and burning the chakra pathways, but he needed it now. The Kyubi granted him the power, and he stood up. The others were obviously getting ready as well. It was time to pull out the big guns. Tsunade swiped her thumb across some of the blood on her shirt and wiped it down her wrist. Raidon was struggling to get up.

"Orochimaru-Sama!"

Orochimaru jumped next to his subordinate and watched as he bit his thumb, wiping it down Orochimaru's unbandaged forearm. Everyone was now performing the exact same hand seals.

"Ousu-buta, Inu, Tori, Saru, O-hitsuji."

"KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"

Smoke exploded around them, covering a huge area with the stuff. Slowly, it cleared, revealing 6 huge summoned creatures. 5 of them were facing the last. They consisted of a giant frog with a navy gi, pipe in his mouth and a sword at his side, a horizontal scar over one of his eyes. A giant white slug with blue stripes down it's back and sides. A giant brown dog that wore sunglasses to hide the worst of a cross of scars running down the middle of the face, meeting over the bridge of the nose, and also had a blue vest on. A black cat with two tails and piercing green/gold eyes, and most startling of all, a black nine tailed Kitsune with demonic red eyes. All of these were facing a giant purple snake that had dull teal eyes. The frog spoke first.

"**Manda and Orochimaru, Katsuyu and Tsunadi, Fenrir and Sasuke, Nibi and Yukiko, Kyubi and Naruto... This is quite a gathering we've got here... I haven't met most of them in a long time, if at all."**

Gamabunta took a drag of his pipe and exhaled.

"**Are you saying we're having a reunion of sorts, Jiraiya?"**

"Baka. I haven't summoned you in a long time, so don't tell a stupid joke like that."

The summon bosses exchanged a bit of friendly banter and greetings to friends while Manda just sat there, not moving a muscle. Eventually, Jiraya spoke up.

"Actually, I'm thinking of putting an end to fate. We're going to defeat Orochimaru right here, right now."

Manda looked up at his summoner.

"**Oi, Orochimaru, don't summon me to troublesome situations like this."**

When Orochimaru didn't answer, Manda got annoyed.

"**Teme, do you want me to eat you?"**

Raidon tried to appease Manda.

"Please don't say that, Manda-Sama. We will repay you greatly-"

"**Who the hell said I was talking to you? Don't run your mouth with me, gaki! Oi, Orochimaru. You'd better prepare 400 offerings and sacrifices for this. This isn't funny."**

Gamabunta decided to taunt Manda by taking a long drag and then blowing a concerntraited jet of smoke towards Manda, billowing over it's face. It had the desired effect.

"**You want me to turn you into a dried up piece of frog, teme?"** _'I'm almost starting to think Manda would be suited to Naruto in a way. Those both use the word Teme enough...'_

Gamabunta grabbed the hilt of his sword and prepared to spring.

"**I happen to have been wanting a snake skin wallet for a while."**

_'Enter dramatic six way screen cut here'_

Sasuke smirked.

"Orochimaru, you let evil rot your mind."

Yukiko continued.

"You're no longer a comrade."

Orochimaru had one of his sadistic grins spread across his face.

"Comrade? How shocking."

Naruto smirked, playing along.

"This will be the last day you're refered to as a Sannin."

Tsunade growled her part out.

"In fact, I think this is the last day we will be refered to as Sannin."

Jiraiya finished off.

"We have already found those who are good enough to replace us and we have trained them, and the one replacing you will not be corrupted like you were."

_'End dramatic six way screen cut here.'_

The six summon bosses and their summoners waited for some sign from nature to begin. This time it appeared to be the petals coming off a flower. When the last one came off, Katsuyu prepard for her/his/its/shims jutsu.

"**Zesshi Nensan!"**

The slug's frontal area which people presume is it's mouth puffed up and shot out a spray of highly corossive acid that went everywhere. Manda slithered out of the way of the acid and shot towards Katsuyu, but was intercepted by a barrage of midnight black kitsune tails lashing out at it, devistating the ground where they struck. Manda somehow slipped through the blizzard of tails and wrapped itself around Katsuyu, constricting it's body. As it was about to bite down, Nibi spat ball after ball of acid at Manda, stopping it from getting it's mouth over Katsuyu. Gamabunta took this time to leep at Manda, sword prepared for a straight thrust at Manda from the side. Manda pulled back at the last second and bit down on Gamabunta's sword, which made the sound of metal under heavy strain as Gamabunta pulled on it. Tsunade gave a nod and jumped offKatsuyu, whoburst into thosands of smaller replications, which regathered and reformed into Katsuyu a short distance away. Gamabunta backflipped and saw Manda approaching.

"He's coming!"

"**I know!"**

Manda threw the sword at Gamabunt who managed to jump out of the way and instead left the path open for the sword to impale Katsuyu. The swords was stopped at the last second by a thin, agile midnight black tail which turned the sword upright, giving Tsunade the method she needed to get back atop her summon. Once she was there, Nibi handed the sword back to Gamabunta.

"**Thanks, Nibi."**

"**Welcome."**

"Gamabunta! Give me oil!"

"Kyubi! Use fox fire!"

Both summon bosses complied with their summoners and used their techniques. Naruto didn't have to do anything, nor did Jiraiya now that he knew what Naruto was planning. Gamabunta shot a fountain of oil in Manda's direction, which a single orb of fox fire touched, and ignited the entire area with a resoundingly big BOOM that covered seveal square kilometres. Manda steak should be served well done today, however, their victory was short lived when they saw that Manda had molted and left a skin in his place. The skin collapsed under it's own weight from the fragile bonds holding it up. They had no idea where Manda had gone until they heard a rumbling under Fenrir. Sasuke alerted his summon.

"Fenrir! Below you!"

"**I know, Sasuke!"**

Fenrir jumped out of the way as Manda's tail jabbed where Fenrir's heart would have been mere moments ago. What Fenrir wasn't expecting was that Manda's head would come out from behind him and try to eat him from behind. This was covered by Kyubi jumping and biting down on Manda's neck. Manda tried to use his agile body to wrap around Kyubi and constrict him but Manda's plan was again foiled when Gamabunta grabbed the end of Manda's tail, meaning the snake couldn't move either end of his body. Nibi's tail wrapped around Gamabunta's sword which was still in it's sheath.

"**Give me that for a moment."**

Nibi picked the sword up and slammed it blade first through Manda's upper jaw, though the lower one and into the ground, essentially pinning Manda where he was.

"**Keep it shut."**

Now it was really just a personal battle between the summoners. Tsunade jumped off Katsuyu and landed in the top of the sword. Orochimaru shot his tongue out, wrapping it around Tsunade's neck.

"TSUNADE!"

Yukiko and Naruto jumped off their summons, who were the closest to Manda at the time and went for Orochimaru and his lackey. Tsunade was struggling to pull the tongue from around her neck, but finally managed to do it as Naruto was about to lay into the snake man. Tsunade yanked the tongue, dragging Orochimaru towards her, much like she had when Naruto used his chakra hand on her. When Orochimaru was close enough, she slammed Orochimaru back to the ground with a punch to the face that no one wanted to be on the reciving end of ever again. By now, Jiraiya and Sasuke didn't want to be left out, so they told their summons to get closer so they could join the fight. Tsunade, still holding onto Orochimaru's extended tongue, was about to pull him back up and throw him further up into the air when Sasuke did the pleasure for her punching Orochimaru straight back up. One didn't date a woman who had monsterous strength without learning how to do the basics of it himself. Tsunade jumped up as her former teammate sailed past her, flying up to meet him and began a brutal combo that made everyone wince at the power she was packing into the hits. She let Orochimaru fall to the ground landing on top of Gamabunta's sword, before pulling the 'snake bastard', as Naruto had affectionately termed him, back towards her, readying for another punch. However, the punch missed, due to incredible amount of strain that she was putting on her aging body and shuddered as her muscles bunched and mass cramped. Sasuke smiled.

"We'll take over from here, Tsunade-Sama."

Sasuke and Naruto powered chakra to their feet, springing up to meet Orochimaru, while Yukiko was enjoying letting the harmless blows of Raidon glance off her Plasma Ball, much to his dismay. Naruto readied his gantlet to impale the ghost of a man through the heart with a sword of sorts. However, Tsunade didn't want to be outdone. She dragged Orochimaru up and slammed her fist into him. It wasn't a chakra powered hit, nor were any of the ones in the brutal combo that followed. Naruto and Sasuke decided to help her beat the snot out of her former teammate, adding to the punches and kicks all the way to the ground. Tsunade connected a devistating punch to the face, rippping off a small part of his mask. Orochimaru hit the ground, knowing that dodging was his only hope. Tsunade, Naruto and Sasuke were in hot pursuit.

"You're not getting away!"

Tsunade flipped over their target's head and punched at him, causing him to stop for a moment. This was all Sasuke and Naruto needed and they began laying into him. Orochimaru tongue slapped Naruto and Sasuke away _'It has more power than it seems, trust me.'_ ,wrapping his tongue around Tsunade and dragging her to him, bringing the Sword of Kusanagi to bare on her, who was already attempting to dive at him. She really wanted to avoid a repeat experience, so she caught the sword between her feet and deflected the blade, kicking Orochimaru in the same motion. Naruto and Sasuke were back on their feet by now and continued just slogging Orochimaru in the face. They all knew this wasn't right. NO fifty year old could take THIS much of a beating and still be standing, Sannin or not. They finally saw why when Naruto did a particularly powerful punch to his face, ripping away a large section of the mask, revealing a girl under the mask. The girl still had the yellow eyes reserved only for Orochimaru, but it was no doubt the snanke man. Tsunade was mortified, but did her best to hide it, powering chakra to her fist for one final brutal punch.

"So, you actually managed to complete that jutsu. How disgusting. I wonder what would happen if I were to kill the body you were in before you transferred?"

To illistrate her point, the chakra around her hand surged, before she gave him a massive straight punch to the jaw, sending him flying towards Gamabunta's sword handle, which he hit with a _thonk_ before dropping ontop of Manda in a heap. The summons apart fom manda were pleased with their and their summoners handywork. Fenrir bared his fangs in a canine smile.

"**Guess that's it then."**

"**Yeah."**

Manda had something to add as well.

"**You put me in an unsightly situation. I would eat you alive, but I can't swallow because of this hole in my mouth. Prepare yourselves for the next time we meet."**

Manda returned to the world of the summons in a poof of smoke, leaving Orochimaru, Raidon and Yukiko to fall to the ground. Yukiko flipped over to her friends, breathing heavily. The Plasma Ball required a hell of a lot of chakra to sustain for the amount of time she had. Tsunade fell to her knees, finally giving way to exhastion. Everyone was pretty much beat. Orochimaru panted out his farewell.

"Tsunade, I don't need you to heal my arms, as there is one other way to restore my arms. I'll crsuh Konoha for sure. When that time comes, I hope we can meet again, comrades."

Orochimaru used his version of the killing intent to leave everyone momentarily frozen, before sinking into the ground. Raidon formed some seals before looking directly at Naruto.

"Naruto-Kun, that jutsu was beyond impressive. I hope to meet with you again in the future. Goodbye for now."

Raidon focussed some chakra and poofed out of existance on the battle field, leaving the others with there summons. Jiraiya started to go after them but winced at the pain of the broken leg and ribs Orochimaru had inflicted on him. Tsunade shuddered and started coughing blood. Naruto, Yukiko and Sasuke ran to her and checked over her. Naruto could see her age changing jutsu was wearing off. Tsunade suddenly turned into the wrinkly 50 year old that Naruto had originally imagined her to be. Age had obviously not been kind to her, probably a side effect from the necklace now dangling around his neck. The fighters dismissed their summons, who waved at them before poofing away much as Manda had, and they sat in a group, licking their wounds, so to speak. That night, everyone was sitting in the same bar chatting while eating dinner. Naruto was musing about Tsunade.

"So, Tsunade-Obachan is going to be the Godaime Hokage? Compaired to Ojisan, she's got a violent temper, selfish, lose with money, mean and stupid."

Tsunade was trembling with rage, which Naruto made a point of ignoring and continued on.

"I'm worried if she can do the job properly and she's in her fifties, but disguises herself in a youthful form. Is a Hokage allowed to lie to everyone like that?"

Tsunade stepped across the table, shoving her face into a very amused Naruto's face.

"Let's take this outside, Gaki."

They did, standing across the newly repaired street from each other. Tsunade held up a finger.

"This will do."

"Don't mock me! I'm goingto become the best Hokage ever!"

Tsunade smiled at the boy andbody flickered forward much faster than Naruto had expected her to be able to, flicking his forehead protector off. Naruto closed his eyes and gritted his teeth when he saw her prepare to flick him. He knew that even a flick was enough to put him in a world of pain, but it never came. He was, however, aware of lips pressing to his forehead and opened his eyes to see Tsunade kissing him on the forehead in what could only be described as a very motherly like way. Tsunade put a hand on his chest and smiled.

"Become a good man and Hokage."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** Holy cow! Huge chapter! I believe this is my masterpiece chapter so far across all stories. You know, I've discovered something. The characters of Naruto can be REALLY angsty when they want to be and the entire seires is WAY overdramatised. Anyways,I would really like your comments on the final fight scene between the summons. Was it believeable? Was it awe inspiring? Alos, if you'rewondering who Fenrir was, he's my idea of the boss of theDog summons. I had a choice of either the god of the dogs, who happens to be the Gobi, but that wouldn't fit with the stroy line,so I was really left with Fenrir or Cerebrus. As you can tell, Sasuke signed Kakashi's contract with the dogs.I hope you had as much fun reading this chapter as I had the satisfaction of writing it. Until next time, my Avid readers!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	5. Team Seven Reborn

**A/N:** Sorry I've been kind of neglecting this story. I'm going to try updating it more regularly. I find something really hard to believe. 3 days of reviews for this story is what I have to deal with in one for my other story... Oh, BTW, this chapter contains another Sonic the Hedgehog song, one by the name of Live & Learn. I don't own it, but I really, REALLY wish I did...

**Mage Ronin:** I need Orochimaru alive for just a little longer. After that, Orochimaru will die. Horribly.

**TrapedSoul:** Well, you were one of the people who claimed it was impossible to do the chidori completely without the Sharingan. The Sharingan is only used to counter the enemy's counter. Demonic senses can do the job just as well as the Sharingan can, therefore, either an Uchiha or a Jinchuriki who's absorbed their demon can do it. Ah, I didn't see the last question. Which format do you want it in? .doc or .odt? Also, please send me your email address in a PM so I can just send it to you instead of having to copy+paste into Pms.

**White Alchemist Taya:** Lee or Gai get married? No, but some sicko decided to name their child 'in honour' of them. You can guess where it went from there... How is Tsunade a pedophile? In my fic, she always had something of a secret crush on Arashi, and due to her drunken haze, she thought it was him. Well, Orochimaru was all of those things, but I chucked the 'king of angst' title in there to add to the screwed up mixture that is Orochimaru's personality. TONTON'S A FEMALE? WTF? I always thought Tonton was a male. Lol, roasted Tonton bun... Fenrir is a legendary cainine. Descriptions of the Fenrir change depending on where you get them, but basically, he's a hell hound. The only reason your reviews are the longest is because you separate each question/comment/suggestion onto a separate line. I don't mind really. Catch you 'round!

**Ecchi-Baka-Kon:** _'Moans'_ Don't give me ideas. I'm flat out enough as it is...

**God in a Box:** Yes, I can. I can't remember which anime episode or manga issue it was, but I remember Jiraiya saying he was the only one who could do a duel handed Rasengan. As for the Sora/Chidori thing, as explained to TrapedSoul, Demonic Senses do the job the Sharingan would. And yes, MSOF came from SCMS. I've read the fic, and boy was it funny. I was litterally crying rivers it was so funny. I always knew Itachi had a thing for Pocky...

**Kyuubi-Sama:** Nah, he'll gain real tails in my other fic, Living Behind a Mask. Fight scenes? Maybe.

**MagusKryos:** Well, considering we've only seen Jiraiya use the Rasengan on someone once and the Yondaime has never been seen using it, it's impossible to say.

**General Badaxe:** Never said anything about you being an unoriginal author... Did I? Anyways, I'd have to agree with you on the happier thing.

**THEJUDGE.JUDGEJUDY!1070:** I never said Naruto has red eyes all the time. In fact, I specifically said in that chapter right at the beginning of the conversation he had BLUE eyes...

**Conceptor:** Wootage, great GOD chapter... I feel special _'Smiles.'_ I'm getting closer to the marriage, so don't get your pants in a twist. Only Tsunade and Jiraiyua were having a hard time really, because they're old foggies. Naruto and Yukiko were still recovering from training, and who knows what Orochimaru was doing to the cursed seal during battle... As for the Rasengan Theory, I was watching the Tsunade retrieval arc and I subconciously noticed the five spins on Jiraiya's Rasengan. I then saw Naruto use it in the alley fight with Tsunade and I was like: _'Woah! Rewind! HOLY SHIT, I'M A GENIUS!'_ Then I went and checked it again in the other eps. As for where I get the eps, I'm a member of NarutoFan PLUS, so I get 10gigs of subbed anime Dls a month from a huge range of series. Enough advertising, but that's where I get them.

**Dobe-Teme:** Thanks for pointing out the differences. Also, yeah Orochimaru is alive until I'm done toying with him. Which will be soon enough.

**Solar Guadian:** Oh, they're getting more animalistic in more ways than one. Wait until you see their wedding night... Oh boy, that's going to be a doosy. I might have to post the full graphic version on MM. Oh and thanks for picking me up on that, wow, can't belive I stuffed that up...

**becomingthis:** Well, that was going to be the last vote for this story. Who would you like Sora to start dating? Two options: Lee or Kiba... Interesting prospects.

**Dragon Noir:** Well, that was certainly an interesting explination. As for the Oto Nins, just wait and see. Akatsuki are far from done.

**Asavako:** Glad you did.

**mastershake89:** Meh, no problem. What exactly did you mean by 'last marking period'? Anyways, catch you later!

**Katana Haibane:** Hey mate. I try and update this one as regularly as possible, but people are flooding my other story with reviews. I get about 2 pages per chapter, and it's steadily increasing. It's REALLY annoying, because if I stop and do a chapter for this story for a day, I end up using 5 A4 pages for just the top A/N for the other story. Again my appologies. As for the death of Naruto, it was a massive chapter like you said, but I was at the point of Naruto's death at 2 am in the morning. I was tired and CBF to do more, so I finished it off in the quickest way I could. Sorry bout that. Oh, and I'm going to have Naruto kill Orochimaru eventually, and then move onto Akatsuki.

**teamkyubi13:** Glad you like it. Can you wait for let's see... 8 lines of words? If so, it's there for you to read!

Legend:

_'...Thoughts...'_

"...Japanese..."

"_...English..."_

_**'...Biju Thoughts...'**_

"**...Biju Talking in Japanese..."**

"**_...Biju Talking in English..."_**

**&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&**

The Return of The Bijus:

Chapter Five:

Team Seven Reborn:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Several Weeks Later, at the Hokage Tower:**

Tsunade had just finished giving her Hokage acceptance speech, thanking Naruto for making her realise how foolish she had been to pass off the job of Hokage as worthless. Tsunade informed them that their would be a festival to celbrate her appointment to be held in a week's time. After that, she ended the speech, and people went back to their daily lives. Naruto immediately sent messanger birds to his three Genin hopefuls, telling them to bring their ninja tools for the test to their training area. Naruto was there waiting for them when they arrived. He smiled and waved.

"Hey guys. Think you've studied enough?"

They were doubful, but they nodded slowly. Naruto smiled and pulled out and alarm clock, setting it on the stump beside him and then pulled out two bells.

"The aim is to get one of these bells from me by 12 noon, which is when this timer will go off. Oh, and if you come at me with anything less than the full intention to kill me, you won't succeed."

Daichi scowled.

"But Naruto-Sensei, there are only two bells..."

"Exactly, Daichi. The one who doesn't get the bell will be tied to the log over there and watch the rest of us eat lunch. Those of you who don't get one will be sent back to the Academy to redo their last year of training."

The Genin hopeful's eyes widened as Naruto cintinued.

"If I was stupid, like my Jounin instructor could be sometimes, I could do this."

Naruto muttered 'henge' before turning into Kakashi, pulling out his famous orange book, flipping it open and began reading.

"I have a feeling I can finish this book today, as I'm not going to have to pay much attention to you three."

Naruto released the Henge and returned to normal.

"But I've learnt something Kakashi-Sensei never did. I NEVER underestimate my opponents. Ok you three. Begin!"

Naruto slapped his hand down on the timer to start it and the three jumped off. Naruto began walking slowly through the field. Naruto felt a Genin come out and try and sneek up behind him.

"Kouji, that won't work."

Kouji froze momentarily before he charged Naruto. Naruto body flickered out of the way of Kouji's very unskillful strike. Kouji looked up at Naruto who was looking at him with no emotion on his face.

"Kouji, I'll tell you what. If you land a single hit on me, I'll count that as you getting a bell, ok?"

Kouji smiled and dissapeared into the trees. At least the kid had more sense than Naruto had when he was his age. Naruto tracked him through the trees when Kouji misstepped and fell out of the tree. Naruto saw Kouji crumple to the ground and raised an eyebrow before he saw the angle at which Kouji's leg was at. At the moment, Kouji was still in too much shock for the pain to register the broken leg, so Naruto rushed over and checked it. What he didn't expect was that Kouji's hand shot out lightning fast and grabbed a bell of his belt before jumping up and dispelling the partial Henge on his mangled leg to reveal he had set the entire thing up. Naruto was beyond impressed. This boy was a prankster too. Kouji smiled at him, making Naruto laugh.

"I'll give that to you Kouji, that was smart. You're as good a prankster as I was at your age. The fact that you can do partial Henge is VERY impressive. You pass."

Kouji jumped up and down in excitement as Naruto felt a buch of kunai fly at him, and he felt something coming at him from the left. Kouji was still to his right. The only ways Naruto had left to go were forward, down or up. Hell, why not do all three? Naruto formed a seal and announced his jutsu.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Two Naruto clones formed. One flashed forward using Hiraishin, the other put a bit of chakra to his feet and jumped while the other one used chakra to burrow underground with minimal effort. The three Genin stopped and stared. Naruto called out to them.

"Come on, if you don't hurry up, you won't get a bell!"

The two Genin charged forward. Naruto didn't realise until too late that one of the Genin had used a Bunshin to hide their real body who came up from behind and grab him in a full nelson. Naruto froze. Daichi ran forward and spiked his chakra as one would when they start a jutsu. Naruto activated his Inagan and watched the seals.

_'Holy shit! A Genin knows a poisoning skill? These kids are far from normal!'_

Naruto began forming single hand seals before they both announced their jutsus.

"Doku Gasu!"

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!"

Naruto blew out a huge gust of chakra inforced wind, dispelling the gas. The kids looked at him in awe. Naruto looked at Daichi sternly.

"You realise that could have killed your teammate? I would have been able to survive it, but did you think about your teammate?"

Naruto noticed Daichi was smiling. Hibari appeared beside him, holding a bell. Naruto sighed. The alarm hadn't even gone off yet. Daichi told them of their plan.

"Kouji said that he would distract you long enough to get you into a position where we could begin the second stage. The Doku Gasu was just to get you focusing on my jutsu so Hibari could steal the last bell."

Naruto smiled. They'd passed with the same ease his team had. Naruto motioned them to the poles.

_'To think_

"Let's go guys."

They followed him to the poles. They saw that the boxes of bento had been placed in front of the three poles. Naruto had created a third Kage Bunshin and told him to go and rearrange the lunch boxes. Naruto motioned them to the poles.

"Eat up you three. I'm going to give you a talk that you would do well to remember. I'm sure you are all told to take care of your friends, right?"

They nodded, so Naruto continued his history lesson.

"Remember how I told you my Jounin Sensei was Hatake Kakashi?"

They nodded.

"His father was a Jounin in the time of the great war. Back then, everyone was expendable, as long as they completed their missions. Even Konoha thought this. Kakashi's father, the White Fang of Konoha was on a regular mission to infiltraite the enemy lines. He was forced into a position where he had two choices, both with massive consequences. His first option was to go ahead and complete the mission, however, this came at the cost of his teammates lives. His other option was to fail the mission and save his friends. The pressure was on all ninjas of their era that life was something cheap that could be thrown away like yesterday's trash. Do you know what he did?"

They waited.

"He gave up the mission to save his friend's lives. When he got back, he was shunned and had his ninja status stripped. Even his 'friends' shunned him. Eventually, he commited suicide to escape the discrimination. However, this decision turned Konoha into what it is today. If it wasn't for White Fang, we would still be living in a dictatorship. We would still use a simmilar test for the Genin exams that the mist used until a decade ago, which was a diusgusting act of killing your best friend just to become a ninja. Listen to me when I say this. You're very lucky to have grown up in this time of relative peace in Konoha. Remember this. If you want to survive as a Ninja, then live by this rule. 'Those who don't listen to orders are trash. Those who don't protect their friends are far worse than that'. Congratulations you three, you pass."

They jumped up in the air cheering, rather pleased with themselves. Naruto smiled.

"Begining tomorrow, Team Seven will begin missions. Meet at the Hokage's office tomorrow morning, 8am. Catch you round guys!"

Naruto poofed to the Hokage's office to give his report. Sasuke and Yukiko were just arriving to. Naruto smiled at them, giving Yukiko a kiss.

"How'd they go?"

"They past."

"Same here."

"Yeah, Team Seven past as well."

They came in to find the new Hokage snoozing at her desk. The three Jounins sweat dropped. Naruto walked up to her and poked her.

"Oi, Tsunade-Obachan."

Tsunade stirred slightly, but stayed asleep. Naruto shook her slightly.

"Tsunade-Obachan."

Tsunade made no indicaton she was going to wake up, so Naruto sighed, forming two hand seals and shooting a small jet of water out of his mouth, drenching her. She woke with a start and punched the nearest thing she percived as human, which was unfortunately Naruto. Naruto slammed into the wall, splintering it. Sasuke stared at her in amuzement, while Yukiko walked over to Naruto and checked on him. Tsunade stormed over to Naruto.

"Oi, brat, what the hell do you think you're doing? Would it be too much to ask to call me or shake me?"

"I did, Tsunade-Obachan. You didn't wake up so-"

Naruto became awear of the vein of Tsunade's head throbbing.

"Tsunade-Obachan? What's wrong?"

Tsunade punched Naruto clear through the window, watching with slight satisfaction as he sailed up and out of the village becoming nothing more than a speck on the horizon. Sasuke winced and Yukiko sweat dropped. Tsunade called through the broken window.

"And don't call me Obachan again, brat!"

Tsunade turned around, looking much more relieved.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"Ano... We came to report our Genin Teams past..."

"That's nice... I'm going back to sleep..."

Tsunade sat back down and began snoozing, despite the several mountains of paperwork. Sasuke and Yukiko sweat dropped. Yukiko turned to Sasuke.

"Ne, Sasuke... Do you think she can do the job?"

"I'd rather have Nartuo do it..."

She had to agree with that. They left, hoping not to wake her up again.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**One Week Later:**

Team 7 had been doing 'grunt work' as Iruka would have called it. Naruto was secretly coverting the moment one of them snapped and asked for a mission where they got to fight. It came a week after they started missions. They were at the mission assignment office where Sarutobi was. Apparently, he was still helping his former student get used to the job. He looked at Team 7 as they came in.

"Team 7, today's missions include babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping at the local village, digging sweet potatoes-"

"NO!"

Naruto smiled widely. Kouji had, predicatably, been the one to decline it.

"Give us an awesome mission where we get to fight!"

Naruto laughed, causing everyone to look at him.

"Just like old times, eh, Ojisan?"

He took a puff of his pipe.

"You're not raising him to take after you are you, Naruto?"

"Why would I possibly want to do that? One prankster is enough for all of us."

The grin on his face said otherwise. Nartuo toned down his grin to a smirk.

"And don't disguise the mission difficulty like you did with me."

Sarutobi sighed and checked his papers. He pulled out one.

"Does an A rank mission sound good?"

Naruto nodded. Iruka butted in.

"Naruto, are you crazy? Taking Genin fresh out of the Academy on an A rank mission? This is-"

"Iruke-Sensei."

That stopped him.

"Yes?"

"Are you underestimating my team?"

Iruka sighed.

"Kakashi has had an influence on you, hasn't he?"

"Yup. Iruka-Sensei. These aren't your students anymore. They're my subordinates. If they want to see fighting, then I'll show them a fight they won't soon forget. Ojisan, what does the mission involve?"

"You are to protect a contract worker from a group of renegade Nukenin who are raiding his work site, and if possible, eliminate the group of them."

"Any information on the Nukenin?"

"One is apparently a former member of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen and the head of a suppresive government."

"Name?"

"Kurosuki Raiga and his group is called the Kurosuki Family."

"Raiga, eh? He's the dude with the twin swords who harnesses lightning right? I hope he isn't connected to Kisame. That would be a pain."

"Reports indicate he was the first to leave after Kisame left, so the chances are slim."

"Fair enough."

"You can come in now."

The door opened and a tall, thickset, tanned man walked in, and stared at the kids.

"Is this some sort of joke? Kids to protect me from the Nukenins?"

Naruto knew how to deal with these kinds of people.

"They may be children, but never underestimate someone's abilities. Ever. When I was there age and rank, I had already killed people 3 ranks higher than I was. I'm now a Jounin. You say Raiga is after you? My Genin team for our first major mission beat another member of his former organisation and his lackey who from what I last checked in the Bingo Book, were as powerful, if not more than he was. That was over four years ago. If you trully need a display of power, why don't we step outside and I'll show you what I can do to a 100 year old oak with the flick of a finger?"

The Genins remembered what Naruto had done with the eraser and sweat dropped. The former Hokage sighed and took another drag of his pipe.

"Naruto, about that. We have enough trouble regrowing what you destroy daily, even with Yukiko's Mokuton Jutsus, it's hard to keep up."

Naruto grinned sheepsihly as he scratched the back of his head.

"Heh, sorry..."

The man sweat dropped, as did everyone else in the room. Naruto turned back to the man and smiled a toothy grin, startling the man.

"I promise you, Raiga and his subordinates, will NOT kill you. I have never broken one of my promises, no matter how hard to achive they are."

The man nodded. Naruto motioned his team forward, and he followed them out. He walked up besides the man and began chatting over the mission details.

"So, where exactly is your contract work located?"

The man scratched his black beard.

"It's located about one day's travel from here if we hot foot it."

Naruto nodded. He turned back to his team and looked at them sternly.

"Listen you three. My Genin team not only had the advantage of having another like me, but we also had the last loyal Uchiha and the brains of the class. This is an A class mission. We WILL encounter hostile Jounins who will kill you without a second thought. I want all of you to pack a change of clothes and all your ninja tools. Meet at the West Gate in one hour. Go!"

The three scrambled off as Naruto turned to the man.

"Could you excuse me for a moment? I have to pack my things and leave a note for my wife."

The man's eyes buldged.

"You have a wife?"

"And? It's legal."

"Aren't you-"

"No. Our connection is deeper than most people could understand. The only thing that stopped us from marrying earlier was the law."

The man nodded and shrugged.

"Well, it's your life."

"Indeed it is, and I wouldn't live it any other way. I'm sure you can get to the West Gate by yourself?"

The man nodded and began walking off the way he had come into the village. Naruto used Hiraishin to get back to his house and packed his stuff, attaching his gauntlet to his arm and then looking at the new photo of his Genin team that was sitting next to the photo of their own Genin team from all those years ago, a smile crossing his face. He was about to get out a pen and paper when he felt a very familiar presence nearby. Naruto went down the two flights of stairs to the front door and saw Yukiko standing there, obviously waiting for him to leave so she could catch him on the way out.

"And where do you think you're going, Naruto-Kun?"

"Mission, Yukiko-Chan."

Naruto gathered her into his arms for a kiss and hug. They stayed there for a moment before they broke apart.

"I'm going to take down another of the SSS with my team."

"The Seven Shinobi Swordsmen? Which one?"

"Kurosuki Raiga."

Yukiko thought for a moment, trying to place the name.

"Oh, you mean the onw with the two swords like Sora?"

"Yeah."

"Well, good luck. And try not to scare the Genin too much."

"Can't make any promises there."

She pouted, earning her another kiss. Naruto staighthened.

"The place we'll be located is about a day's travel from the West Gate. We should be back within a week."

Yukiko released him from the hug, waving as he left the house. Naruto looked at his watch and decided he couldn't be bothered walking, so he used Hiraishin to get to the West Gate. He arrived their just as their clinet came into view. He raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you had to get your stuff?"

"I did."

Naruto pointed to his bag and gauntlet. They still had 45 minutes to wait until the others were supposed to get here at the latest. Daichi came first, followed shortly by Hibari and then Kouji. They had arrived half an hour early, so Naruto stood up. The three were eyeing his gauntlet suspiciously. Kouji voiced his opinion.

"Naruto-Sensei, what is that?"

Naruto looked where Kouji was pointing, and held up his gauntleted arm.

"This? It's a gauntlet. Made by some friends of mine."

"What does it do?"

Naruto thought for a moment.

"Well, it does a lot of things. It's an armguard, a shield, a sword-"

Naruto noticed they were looking at him blankly. Naruto sighed.

"It's a semi living gauntlet."

They looked at him as if he had grown a second head, so Naruto sighed, pumping a bit of chakra into it. They watched with rapt attention as it began morphing furiously and then grew spines from every direction. They gasped at it as Naruto drew the spines back in.

"And don't get the idea you can talk to it. It has the intelligence of a tree."

They nodded as Naruto turned to the gate.

"Alright you three. Let's go. And just because this is a mission, doesn't mean I'm not going to continue your training."

They all groaned as they trudged after their Sensei. After travelling a few hours down the road, Naruto saw a puddle on the ground. It hadn't rained for weeks. Naruto pretended to pay no attention to it as he walked past, seeing if his team would pick it up. Hibari gave it a look, frowned and continued on. Another few meters down the road, Naruto felt the Genjutsu disperse and felt a pair of attackers coming straight for him. He debated quickly whether or not to let the Genin try. He turned around in time to plaster a lock of amuzement on his face as he was stabbed through the heart. Hibari screamed while Daichi went into defenseive stance.

"One down."

Kouji stared as one of them went after him, appearing behind him faster than he could follow.

"Two down."

He was intterupted when he felt a huge chakra spike coming from his left and saw a yellow and red light coming from the forest to his left. He stared in awe before the light flashed forward, straight at him.

"**Ryusei no Jutsu!"**

Naruto knew he didn't need to use such a high level jutsu on these guys, but he still needed to test it's strength on a living thing besides a tree. The others looked on in amazement as a red comet with a yellow aura came flying out, drilling straight into the ninja behind Kouji. Kouji at least had the sense to leap out of the way as the man was litterally torn to shreads. Naruto stopped and looked at the remaining ninja, who was gaping at him. Naruto still had his demonic features activated. The man's eyes widened in fear and recognition.

"You're... You're one of of the Konoha demon trio!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"**So, we've gotten famous enough to have our own title, eh? Well, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Which'll it be?"**

The man nodded and began answering the questions. He lied on the first question. Naruto sighed, slamming his claws into the tree above him.

"**Being part demon means I have demonic senses. I can tell when you lie. Don't bother, or next time, these claws will be digging in somewhere else."**

The man nodded and told him the truth of everything he asked. At the end, Naruto stood up, satisfied. He returned his features to normal and smiled at the man.

"Wasn't so hard, was it?"

The man shook his head furiously and Naruto thought about what to do with him. He flipped open his Bingo Book and shifted through the pages until he found the two he was looking for.

"Demon brothers. Known to work as a pair using a gauntlet each attached to a chain. Excell in stealth killing."

Naruto chuckled.

"Yeah right. I only let you kill my clone because I wanted to test my team. You're wanted for killing over 30 ninja from different villages. Well, I'm sure Konoha's special interrigation unit will love to play with you. Oh, and say hi to Anko for me."

Their client looked at him.

"Wait a moment! Are you abandoning the mission?"

Naruto turned to him and smirked.

"Nah, I'm just thinking which would be the most amusing way to have him taken back to the village. Lets see... I could get a clone to haul him back... I could summon a fox..."

Naruto picked out a coin and flipped it. It landed directly on it's side, not falling either way. Everyone sweat dropped.

"What the hell?"

Naruto was intterupted when the coin wobbled in the slight breeze and it fell to face heads up. Naruto smiled.

"Fox it is!"

Naruto bit his thumb and formed the seals, slamming his palm down on the ground. Five white one tailed Kitsunes appeared. They looked up at him, obviously pleased to see him.

"Hey guys, it's been a while."

They yipped and then whined. Naruto sweat dropped.

"Why is it that the smaller summons always want treats when they're summoned? Well, if you three can drag this guy back to Konoha, you take that guy's head and DON'T eat it and you take this note, to the butcher, he'll give you a treat each, ok?"

Naruto took out a scroll and hastilly wrote something in it before tieing it up and givin it to them. The fove of them grabbed their assigned tasks and went off to Konoha. Everyone turned to Naruto with a sweatdrop on the back of their heads. Kouji looked kind of annoyed.

"Do you do that to everyone you capture, Sensei?"

Naruto thought about it.

"Not all. Most of them. It puts them off when they see me taking their capture so lightly. As a friend of mine once said, 'it's all mind games'."

Kouji suddenly remebered the jutsu Naruto had used and bounded up to Naruto, a look in his eyes that could only be described as pure admiration and hope.

"Ne, Naruto-Sensei! Teach me that jutsu!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Ryusei no Jutsu?"

Kouji nodded. Naruto laughed lightly.

"Think you can handle the improved version of two of the Yondaime's trademark jutsus that require demomic chakra to use one half, and the other half is a jutsu unique to our family that won't work for anoyne but my father, me and my decendants?"

Kouji looked crestfallen. Naruto put a hand on his shoulder.

"But I have some other REALLY cool jutsus you could learn."

Kouji brightened immediately.

"Really? Like what?"

"If you complete this mission, I'll teach you a really cool jutsu."

Kouji nodded and went to join his teammates, who were looking rather angry that he got all the attention. Naruto looked up.

"Daichi, Hibari. I'm not making the same mistake my Sensei did. I will NOT show favoritism. The same goes for you two. If you both complete this mission, I'll both teach you cool jutsus. However, if you three want to learn, you have to also pass my training program. Let's keep going. Keep your eyes peeled for ninjas."

"HAI, SENSEI!"

They set off again, chatting but also keeping an eye out. By the end of the day, they had arrived at the site they were supposed to protect. Naruto realised it was an excavation site.

"So, what are you digging up?"

The man looked at Naruto, pleased for the chance to get to talk about his job.

"I'm an archeologist. I specialise in fossils."

"Any particualar age you specialise specifically in?"

The man, not expecting Naruto to understand, told him.

"I specialise in the early Devonian."

Naruto's brows furrowed for a moment before his turned to the man.

"So you specialise mainly in simplistic early life forms like insects and arachnids?"

The man's eye widened. This kid was 16, but he showed not only incredible strength and leadership qualities, but also a large amount of knowledge. The man nodded and Naruto surveyed the site, thankful for once to a particualr Ero-Sennin for making him study prehisoric ages in the west.

"What exactly are you looking for here?"

The man pointed to a particular point in the dig site.

"We received reports that bones have been poking out of the soil here. We practically found a laired bone graveyard! We've finally dug down to the area we're intrested in, which you can see my workers digging at over there."

Naruto's eyes widened. Such graveyards were supposed to be things of fantasy! Naruto looked at the man seiously.

"You wouldn't happen to have kept some of the bones, would you?"

The man nodded and led them towards a tent. Inside it was stuffy, but there were rows and rows of bones sealed in plastic bags. Naruto turned to his team.

"Whatever you do do NOT touch them. Breaking a few of these bones could bankrupt a lesser village for a year."

They children looked slightly amazed. Kouji turned to Naruto.

"Nartuo-Sensei? How can bones be worth that much?"

"These bones are what's left of creatures that lived on this planet a hell of a long time ago, millions of years before humans even did. These are priceless artifacts."

Kouji nodded in vague understanding. Their client showed them arround the room breifly. Naruto whistled at the end of the tour.

"You could practically buy the world with everything here... No wonder they're after you."

Their client nodded.

"I can see you understand. I'm sorry if I didn't think much of you at first..."

They walked back outside and into the quickly reddening afternoon light.

"Understandable. Don't worry. We may not look it, but we are strong enough to deal with them. Could I ask to go down to the dig site some time?"

The man nodded.

"First, however, we should probably get some rest. I'll introduce you to my colegues tomorrow. This is your tent here."

Kouji cried out.

"Eh? One tent?"

Naruto sighed.

"Kouji, at dig sites, resources are precious. Most dig sites are in the middle of nowhere. Knowing how expeditions work, I wouldn't be surprised if they put people in other's tents just so we could have our own. Don't take ANYTHING in life for granted."

Kouji shut up at that. They moved in and found there was just enough space for their packs and sleepingbags. Naruto turned to the othes in the tent.

"Guys, remember something. People on dig sites work long hard hours, and they get very little sleep, but whatever sleep they do get is vital. I'm not saying that you guys are noisy or anything, but keep it down, ok?"

They nodded. Hibari really wanted to know something.

"Naruto-Sensei?"

"Yeah?"

"How come you know so much when you're only 4 years older than us?"

Naruto sighed.

"Dieing twice helps put things into perspective..."

They gasped. Naruto had died? Naruto smiled.

"Strangely, both times I was saved by the same person. One time, I was on the verge of death that no medicine or regular medical jutsus could save me from. The second I actually did die. Technically, I died to kill my father, but it was only my dad's body. It was the fight with the other Kages. They could completely repair any damange to their body, so the only way to win was to remove their souls. I used a jutsu my father created that is a mixture between a summoning contract and a seal."

"Summoning contract? With who?"

"Shinigami."

Their eyes widened.

"The seal is called Shiiki Fuujin. It summons Shinigami. He has a very heavy price for summoning him. For each use, he requires two specific souls. The soul of the sealed, or the target, and the soul of the sealer, or the one who uses the jutsu. I had to suicide to kill them. Being stuck in Shinigami's stomach with a heap of other souls that scream for your blood so to speak for 6 days is rather sobering and it makes you realise what you never realised you had until it's taken away from you."

They had just gained a whole new level of respect for their Sensei. Naruto finished unpacking and went outside. The sun was well and trully setting, the skies a very orangy-red tint. A slight breeze rustled his hair and coat as he saw the people retiring from the site for the day. Their client called them to dinner where they met the rest of the workers. Their client introduced them to everyone and they waved to them as they nodded their heads. Naruto asked them very difficult questions about their work, suprising the hell out of most of them that a 16 year old kid knew as much as he did. After dinner, Naruto took his cell to their tent.

"Ok you three, we're going to start the training tomorrow. Get a good night's sleep. You'll need it."

They nodded and got into their sleeping bags. Naruto entered a state where he was only 10 percent sleeping in case they were attacked during the night. Luckily, they weren't.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning, Sunrise:**

Naruto got up for the sunrise, as he liked to do occasionally. He knew the other workers would be getting up soon. He sat outside on a boulder watching the morning sun rise. For some reason, he got a sudden urge to sing the lyrics to one of his favorite Western songs. He started softly, hoping not to disturb anyone.

_'Can you feel life, moving through your mind,_

_Looks like it came back for more – yeah, yeah, yeah,_

_Can you feel time, slipping down your spine,_

_You try and try to ignore – Yeah._

_But you can hardly swallow, _

_Your fears and pains,_

_And you can't help but follow,_

_Puts you right back where you came._

_Live and Learn,_

_Hanging on the edge of tomorrow,_

_Live and Learn,_

_On the works of yesterday,_

_Live and Learn,_

_If you beg or if you borrow,_

_Live and Learn,_

_You may never find your way._

_Can you feel life tangle you up inside,_

_And now your face down on the floor._

_But you can't save your sorrow,_

_You've paid in trade,_

_And you can't help but follow,_

_And puts you right back where you came._

_Live and Learn,_

_Hanging on the edge of tomorrow,_

_Live and Learn,_

_On the works of yesterday,_

_Live and Learn,_

_If you beg or if you borrow,_

_Live and Learn,_

_You may never find your way._

_There's a face searching far, so far and wide,_

_There's a place where you dreamed you'd never find,_

_Hold on to what if..._

_Hold on to what if..._

_Live and Learn,_

_Hanging on the edge of tomorrow,_

_Live and Learn,_

_On the works of yesterday,_

_Live and Learn,_

_If you beg or if you borrow,_

_Live and Learn,_

_You may never find your way._

_Live and Learn,_

_Hanging on the edge of tomorrow,_

_Live and Learn,_

_On the works of yesterday,_

_Live and Learn,_

_If you beg or if you borrow,_

_Live and Learn,_

_You may never find your way._

_Live and Learn... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah._

_Live and Learn... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.'_

By now, each and every single person had come out of their tents and heard Naruto's voice, captivated by the sweet melodic singing. Kouji came up to Naurto gobsmacked.

"Naruto-Sensei?"

"Yes, Kouji?"

"What were you singing?"

Naruto laughed softly.

"A song from the west. I'll translate it if you want. It's a very well known song, with a very deep meaning. I like to sing it sometimes, because it helps me focus on what's important."

Kouji nodded slowly.

"Ok..."

Naruto hopped off the rock and went towards the dining tent, followed by his students. Naruto neded to find out a bit more about his student's families, so he started with Daichi.

"Daichi, your family, the Katayamas, are the poison experts of Konoha, right?"

Daichi nodded, so Naruto continued.

"How many poison jutsus do you know?"

Daichi drank a bit of the soup before answering.

"Two."

Naruto nodded.

"I see. When we get back, ask you father that I personally requested you be taught another one, ok? I think you're ready for it. I'll also teach you a jutsu I think would compliment you really well."

Daichi nodded and Naruto turned to Hibari.

"Hibari, I haven't heard of your family before, so unfortunately, I don't know if you specialise in anything."

Hibari looked downcast for a moment.

"I'm the first ninja in my family for three generations, so I don't have any family jutsus..."

Naruto nodded, thinking over what he could teach her that would suit her, before he smiled.

"I think I've got the perfect one to teach you."

Hibari looked up in suprise and Naruto smiled.

"It was invented by Jiraiya, and only he, and those of us with long hair that went on the four year trip with him learnt it, but I can still teach it to you."

Hibari raised an eyebrow.

"What does hair have to do with it?"

Naruto smirked, eating a mouthfull of noodles.

"You'll see."

Hibari nodded and Naruto turned to Kouji who was looking down at his plate. Naruto smiled sadly.

"You're like me in so many ways it's scary, Kouji. Both my parents died the day I was born, and left me with no one to take care of me."

Kouji looked up, seeing the all too familiar pain in Naruto's eyes for a second before he banished it and smiled.

"I have the perfect jutsu for you. It will definately get you recognition."

Kouji grinned. He REALLY wanted recognition more than anything else, and Naruto was really the first person to recognise him not as the 'dobe' but as a human being like everyone else. After breakfast, Naruto took them to three fairly tall trees and stood in front of them. He turned to face them.

"Ok, this is the first part of the training. I want you to walk up these trees."

Their respect for Naruto dropped slightly before he sighed.

"No, I'm not crazy. I'll give you a little bit of theory before I show you. I'm sure you're all awear that chakra is what's used for our jutsus and other things?"

They nodded, and Naruto continued.

"Chakra is not only used for Jutsus, but also for helping boost our normal abilities. Remember that eraser I flicked through the book?"

They nodded.

"No human being could do that without chakra. I enchanced my fist with a fairly decent amount of chakra to strengthen the action. Some people can channel chakra to their fists and flick a brick wall, making it shatter into dust."

They were fully wrapped in Naruto lecture. These were so much more fun than Iruka's lessons.

"However, very few shinobi have the chakra control for that. What all shinobis are expected to have chakra control for is to not waste any more chakra than is necessary for jutsus. For example, let's take Hibari. You're chakra control according to the records was perfect. You waste no chakra meaning that you have enough for a decent amount of jutsus. The problem you have is that your chakra capacity is very very small. Daichi, your chakra control is not perfect, but it's above the level a Genin should have. Your chakra reserves are fairly large as well. Kouji, your chakra control was like mine at your age. You use twice the chakra to accomplish the same amount these two do. However, you are able to do as many jutsus as them. This is because your chakra capacity is already Chunin level. You just manage it poorly. This exercise is the first of two that will help you control your chakra, teaching you to use only as much as you have to. This exercise requires you to concerntraite chakra to your feet and release an EXACT amount constantly. The amount is determined by your weight and the area of the soles of your feet. Watch."

Naruto walked up to the tree and put his foot on it before he began walking up the trunk of the tree as if it were the most normal thing in the world. His three students looked at him in awe. Nartuo threw three kunai at their feet.

"Use those to score where you make it up the tree. I'll give you some pointers. IF you push too much chakra to your feet, the tree wil repel you. Too little, and you'll fall off. You can either run up the tree if you're confident enough with your chakra control, or, if you have a large chakra capacity, but no control, take it one step at a time like I did. When you all get to about this height, I'm satisfied you know how to do it. Go for it!"

Kouji slowly walked up to the tree, pausing momentarily before he put a foot on the tree. He slowly, but shakily put the second foot on the tree. The others by now were trying to run up the tree. Hibari made it first go, as Naruto expected. Daichi made it halfway to the finish line before he spiked his chakra and the tree repelled him. Kouji made it about ¾ of the way to the finish line before he released too little chakra and fell off. Naruto smiled.

"Daichi, that last step you can probably tell you spiked your chakra. That's what happens when you do. Kouji, you stopped releasing enough and your foot detached, which made you fall. Those are the two extremes of it. Try again."

They both nodded and tried again. Both of them got closer than the first time, but they still both fell short of the mark. Naruto smiled.

"Third time lucky?"

They steeled their determination and tried again. Daichi ran up the tree and reached the branch. Kouji set his face in a determined expression and walked up the tree. He got to the branch and jumped onto it, smiling at his accomplisment. Naruto smiled widely.

"Good job guys!"

Naruto was going to start explaining the next part when his danger sense went off. Naruto smirked.

"So, they're here already, eh?"

Naruto jumped down, motioning his team to follow him. Naruto got to the site just as the area clouded over and a severe lightning storm washed over them. Naruto turned his head to his team.

"If you see a guy with two swords, leave him alone! Protect the dig site and the workers! Go!"

They ran off as Nartuo stood in front of the group. He smiled, showing his fangs.

"Well, if it isn't another of the Shiobi Swordsmen. Raiga, was it?"

The man smiled slightly.

"And who are you?"

Naruto bared his fangs.

"Uzumaki Naruto. I killed another of your former companions 4 years ago as a Genin. I hope you can provide me with more entertainment."

The others with him froze slightly before they started laughing. Naruto sighed, deciding to show them something to fear. He activated his demonic features and voice.

"**Listen here, humans. Do you have any idea what you're trying to destroy here? Or are you like the scum who fear things they don't understand?"**

They froze and Naruto gave a foxy grin that promised mischif. Raiga brought his two swords up.

"I'll have a funeral for you!"

Naruto sweat dropped.

"**I'm sorry? Funeral? Oh! You mean your own! Ok, fine by me."**

Naruto formed hand seals as Raiga gathered his chakra to his swords and threw the lightning at him. Naruto held up his gauntlet and Raiga smiled. His smile faded when he saw the gauntlet mutate and form a shield. If he didn't know any better, that looked like the stuff Kisame's sword was made of. The lightning hit it and exploded. Raiga could still feel the boy's chakra and as the dust settled, the other members of Raiga's gang were suprised to see the boy unscathed.

"**I seriously hope you weren't thinking that would kill me. Hell, Sora could cause a spark that did more damage than that."**

Naruto sighed.

"**I've really lost respect for the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen. They were supposed to be feared. Every one of them I've faced is weak."**

Raiga growled and prepared for anothe jutsu, but Naruto wasn't goin to let him. He charged forward, punching Raiga in the gut, sending him tumbling over the dirt until he came to a stop about 20 metres away. Or at least, that's what sould have happened. Naruto heard a disembodied voice float from somewhere that gave Raiga instructions on how to avoid Naruto.

"Raiga! Left!"

Naruto was shocked at this, and it gave Raiga the chance to dodge it. Naruto then noticed that one of Raiga's group had broken off and thought he had snuk down to the site unnoticed. Naruto sighed.

"**You three, deal with him. Try to keep him alive though."**

Naruto pointed to a particular patch of rocks, which they concerntraited on, seeing the shadows move slightly as the lightning crackled in the sky. They charged him, and the others could hear scared cries as they proceeded to beat the guy up. Naruto turned back to them.

"**Please tell me you're playing. My Genins have no where near the strength I have on an off day, yet they're beating him senseless? You guys suck. BADLY."**

Naruto then noticed an unusual chakra filling the air as he turned to the source. It was kind of like a childs body bag. But whatever was in there was most definately alive. Naruto walked over to it, and called out to it.

"**What's in here? A person? Whatever it is, it's alive."**

Naruto began unzipping the bag and found a boy in there. Naruto noticed that the boy could barely move. He raised an eyebrow at him.

"**Hmmm. You have a very interesting Doujutsu."**

Naruto became accutely awear of a sharp object peircing his back and heard snickering behind him. Naruto growled, pulling forward to get the metal blades out of him and began healing. Naruto looked at the man with a very pissed off look. Naruto noticed that his Genin were holding off two more of Raiga's henchmen fiarly effectively. Naruto turned back to the man who had stabbed him. He had a very short top of black hair, obviously he had haircuts regularly. _Think Barret from Final Fantasy 7.'_

"**That hurt."**

The man saw that the blood had stopped flowing from the wound and stared in disbelif at the boy. Naruto laughed darkly.

"**I've healed WAY worse injuries than that before."**

Naruto reappeared behind the man, scaring him wittless. Naruto chopped him in the back of the neck, sending him to the ground unconcious. He turned to the rest of them who had gathered and were jumping on top of each other, brandishing their claws. Naruto was personally interested in what was going to happen, so he raised an eyebrow. The one on top announced the jutsu.

"Ninpou, Kuro Tatsumaki!"

They started spinning, turning into a set of black tornadoes, with blue rings around where their claws would be. Naruto decided to entertain them and took a page from Orochimaru's book, deciding to cry out and pretend to be killed. Naruto ran thowing his hands up in the air as the tornados tried to pincer him. He let them do it and poofed into a cloud of smoke before the tornadoes slowed to a stop.

They got off each other's shoulders and drew their claws back into their gloves, smirking.

"He wasn't so hard."

"Really? I let you guys have some fun with a clone. That's a rather interesting jutsu. If it had handseals to it, I could personalise it."

They charged Naruto and Naruto sighed, closing his eyes and prepared to finish them off. He opened his eyes just as they were reaching him and announced his jutsu.

"Bunshin Daibakuha." 

The Naruto clone exploded with great force, copletely oblitterating everything in a 30 square metre radius. Raiga's men were in the middle zone where they wouldn't be turned to ash, but they would be heavily injured. They flew back as a group and collapsed on the ground, unconcious. The real Naruto turned to see that both Raiga and the boy in the body bag had gone. Naruto turned to survey the dig site, smiling that it was completely undamaged. Naruto smiled as he located his students with the one they had beaten up. Naruto turned to his Genin.

"Excellent job you three. The bones are completely unharmed. As for YOU." 

Naruto turned to the man.

"You're going to answer my questions." 

The man 'hmph'ed and crossed his arms.

"Firstly, what's your name?" "Karashi." 

Naruto's brows furrowed.

"Karashi. I've heard that name before..." 

Karashi looked up at Naruto hopefully, hoping he'd gotten some sort of reputation while he was with the Kurosuki Family. Naruto's eyes darkened.

"That's right. Lee told me once about a shop not far from here... The Curry of Life shop. He said you made curry that saved his life. Now, what are you doing with low lives like these guys?" 

Naruto made a sweeping hand gesture at the forms of the unconcious Kurosuki Family. Karashi started going off on a speel.

"It's because Raiga-Sama is awesome!" "Karashi?" "Hmm?" "Say he's awesome again, and I will kill you. No one will notice that one person of the opposing force died. A simple, 'he suicided to try and kill me' would be accepted as normal, as it's happened many times before. Did I not just prove that Raiga is anything but 'awesome'? Listen Karashi, I'm going to make you go to back to that shop and pay off for your sins. And don't get the idea you can just get out of view and leave, you'll be guarded by a demon the whole way." 

Naruto bit his thumb and formed the seals before summoning a 5 tailed black Kitsune. Luckily, this one had a fairly intimidating voice.

"**Naruto-Sama? To what do I owe the pleasure?"** "Nice to meet you too. I need you to escort this punk here-" 

Naruto indicated to Karashi.

"To the Curry of Life shop. If he tries to run, make sure to drag him there. You can smell it right?" 

The Kitsune took a wiff and covered his nose, eyes watering.

"**Naruto-Sama, did you say it was the Curry of Life or the Curry of Death? I can smell it all the way here..."**

Naruto sighed and shook his head.

"Sorry about that..." 

The kitsune growled.

"**Come on, human. Let's get moving."**

Karashi quickly walked as teh kitsune walked behind him, occasionally snapping at his heals. Naruto turned back to them.

"You three, I'm going to continue your training. By the time the Chunin exams roll around again next year, I want you guys to be ready for anything. I had to face one of the Sannin who took an interest in one of my teammates in my Chunin Exam." 

They nodded and Naruto led them back to the camp, making sure everyone was alright.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** Finally! It took a hell of a long time because people were demanding new chapters for my other stroy, but I finally did it. I appologise for not updating this story as much as my other one. Well, until next time my avid readers!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	6. I'll be Back

**A/N:** Everyone, I'm sorry to inform you that I'm going to have to take some time off from authoring. I've run myself into the ground so far I'm on the verge of having to go to hospital. If you could see my eyes now, I have no whites surrounding my pupils. Only purered. I know when enough's enough, and I'm taking at least a week off to recover. I'm basically going to put Itachi in 'The Lazy Uchiha' to shame. Sorry to my fans, but I can't keep going without being taken out of it for several weeks because of severe sleep deprivation. I'll get back to authoring when I can. Again, my sincerest appologies.

Ja ne,

Specula.


	7. Back in Action

Yo! Sorry if I kept you guys waiting. Apparently, my red eye is a dual rare condition found in usually only young people called scleritis and episcleritis. Sorry if I mispelt them, but meh. Basically, the scleria is a while lining directly surrounding the inner part of the eye just outside the inner wall where all your rod and cone cells are (rod cells improve night time vision and cone cells percive colour) The episcleria is a practically non existant layer surrounding the scleria. My conditions is caused by massive inflamation of those two parts which is usually caused by hayfever, allergies and stuff like that. However, I suffer from none of that, so the only thing left it could be caused by was severe lack of sleep and stress, which is my case. I guess that's what I get for trying to keep up with the 2 year course that was meant to be done over four years and write stories at the same time... Well, like the vast majority of my class, I had to quit. I know that no qualification is worth permanent blindness. So, until I find a job, I'll be authoring again. So, now I'm going to get back to both stories. Sorry to keep you waiting everyone!

Specula.


	8. It's the Training!

**A/N:** Yo! I'm going to try updating this story a little more. And if you think the way I defeated Raiga was a bit to easy, remember, Naruto wasted him as a GENIN. Now that he's a Jounin, Raiga would have no chance in hades of beating him.

**WARNING:** This chapter contains spoilers for issue 315 & 316 of the Naruto manga.

Questions/Comments/Suggestions:

**White Alchemist Taya:** Fenrir was a giant wolf who was, according to myth, the son of Loki & a giantess. Hmm, I'll probably go and fix the typo when I get the chance. Thanks for picking me up on that Ojiisan/Obaachan stuff, I'll have to remember that. As for the spelling errors, my open office's spellcheck doesn't work, so I'm going on my own knowledge of the English language. Smells like apples, eh? Righto. Thanks for the welcome back. 'Secretly likes hugs'. Anyways, I have been writing this story at the rate of a page a day at most, so I just finished off this chapter after posting my 'I'm back' chapter.

**becomingthis:** Heh, I just wrote what came into my head at the time, which ended up as that...

**Wintersmourning:** Thanks for correcting me on that, I fixed it up.

**Dobe-Teme:** Nah, Raiga's swords are cheap immitations of the real thing. I hated Raiga, I thought his fetish for funerals went a bit too far...

**Tsurugi-Sama:** Lol, what about when they basically say 'I was really happy without a care in the world... Until that day...' Kami, it gets annoying. As for the new Team Seven, just look up a site that has character bios. They're not OC's, they're in the episode/issue where Iruka is teaching the academy students about the Hokage's. Daichi is that guy squatting with the ear muff like objects on, saying 'that'd be my friends' when Sarutobi asks them if they have important people. Hibari is the girl with the brown hair covering one side of her face that's done up in a bun at the back. She asks Iruka 'Iruka-Sensei, who's the Godaime?' Kouji is the guy in the tie who stands up when Sarutobi tells them what you need to be Hokage saying 'Then I'm gonna be Hokage! You have to be strong and cool right?' And Iruka just smirks, saying 'Not with your current grades, you aren't.' Those are the three of them. The only thing I really made up about the is I twisted Daichi's personality to resemble a slightly more... Canon Sasuke, but not so much that he'll run off to Orochimaru for power and I also invented their last names, as they weren't given any. As for thanking me for reading your review, I kinda look forward to reviews like yours more than most. The ones that are longer than an 'update soon please' and ask questions that don't translate into something like 'ZOMG, THAT WOULDN'T HAPPEN! YOU SUX' or whatnot, so I should be thanking you. As for your fic, I think I did review it, can't remember, but I'll check again and leave a review if I didn't, otherwise, catch you round!

**Dragon Noir:** Sexy no Jutsu? Um, no that jutsu will stay sealed in the 'Naruto's vault of 'don't touch'' jutsus. Find out this chapter. No, I really don't like Raiga, so I just wanted to get him over with, and forget about him.

**Katana Haibane:** Well, just for you, I decided to update this story first. Well, that and the fact that I'm thinking of ways in which I can do the meeting of the Nukenins in 'Living Behind a Mask'. Glad to hear that you love my writing so much. Oh trust me on this, they're going to get to face something Naruto has been dreading, and soon I might add. They ain't getting it all easy, because there's no fun in that. Pain before pleasure, as they say.

**Neotonix:** Thank ye. As for Kouji's jutsu, read and find out :P And Daichi isn't as angsty as Sasuke. If you need an example, think about Sasuke when he was at the Acadeny before Itachi went on a killing spree. It was more determination to surpass his brother than angst.

**Conceptor:** Hmm, well, as I've said, it's harder to come up with a 'what if' than a 'what is', and that includes original content. One of the really hard things for me is creating entirely original missions and doing them convincingly. It's much easier to just use a particualr mission from the anime/manga and tweak it to suit my purposes, but I was planning on chucking some completely original missions in in the next few chapters. As for keeping the major plot points a secret, I try, but sometimes I get put into a situation where I either answer it or sound rude, so I tend to take the former path. Yes! Godly chapter! YOSH!

**DracosEchidna:** Glad you liked it. Personally, I think it would have been heaps better if every single sentence Raiga spoke didn't have the word 'funeral' in it. Apart from that, I loved it.

**ki master:** Glad you like it. I have plans for at least one of the other swordsmen. Sure, if all of the Jinchuriki's were together, they'd be unstoppable, but... What if Naruto was by himself on a mission with his Genin Team? Oh, the possibilities... Anywho, thanks for the praise, it makes this worth while.

**armanstay:** By mistakes, what part were you refering to? If you meant spelling, I've always been good at the English language. To prove it, my spellcheck is broken on my word processor, so what you see here is the non spellchecked version. As for the speed... I guess I just do it? I don't know how, I just do...

**Logophobia:** I have the game too, I loved it. Shadow is soooooooooo cool. 'Faker? I think you're the fake hedgehog around here. You're compairing yourself to the likes of me? HA! You're not even good enough to be my fake!' Also, if memory serves, you can look it up in the options menu in the play sounds option or whatever it's called. Plays the entire song. Also, I used a few Sonic songs because some of them are actually quite meaningful if you pick them apart. I won't go into a detailed synopsis here, but try disecting the lyrics and apply them to the situation the song's used in. Well, if you remember in Ranmaru's memories of when Raiga found him, I could be forgiven for thinking he was the same size her was when Naruto met him, so I kinda went with that and used the train of thought that Ranmaru's illness not only prevented him from leaving his home, but also stopped his growth.

**Naruto's Shadow:** Well, like with TrapedSoul, I need your email address so I can actually send it to you. Give me a pm with it in it, and I'll send them to you.

**NaruSakuFTW:** Glad you like this story. As for my other storyline, some people don't like this and prefer a more angsty line, so I try to cater for more than just the people who like all fluff and no angst.

As for everyone who wished me well, thank you all. It means a lot to me. It really does. As always, I hope my creativity gives you some semblance of pleasure to read.

Legend:

_'...Thoughts...'_

"...Japanese..."

"_...English..."_

_**'...Biju Thoughts...'**_

"**...Biju Talking in Japanese..."**

"**_...Biju Talking in English..."_**

**&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&**

The Return of The Bijus:

Chapter Six:

It's the Training:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Two days Later:**

Naruto had gone searching for Raiga the day after the raid. Raiga wasn't exactly hard to find, due to the masses of lightning clouds over one particular area while the rest was blue sky. Naruto had approached Raiga who turned to him, a crazed look on his face.

"You're the one who killed my men. I'll have a funeral for you! Ninpou, Raiyuu no Tatsumaki!"

Naruto watched bemused as Raiga spun, unleashing a giant tornado made of lightning. Once it reached it's peak, the top formed the head of a dragon and shot straight at Naruto, who had sent a clone forward to taunt him. The dragon hit the clone, making it poof out of existance and the dragon slammed into the ground, exploding and sending rock everywhere. Naruto was not usually one to toy with people, and this time was no exception. He readied a Rasengan and used Hiraishin to flash over to him, driving the Rasengan into his gut. The body bag again fell off Raiga as he sailed over the edge of the cliff. He called out to his companion.

"Ranmaru... Now you are free..."

"Raiga!"

"Lightning! Give me my own funeral!"

The lightning arced down, filling the area with a blinding light. The light faded away from the ball surrounding Raiga's body to reveal he had been burnt to ashes by the heat of the lightning frying the water molecules in his body, much like a speeded up version of what a microwave would do to a piece of meat if left in there for hours. Naruto prayed for the man's soul to find peace in the afterlife. Naruto was not the sort of guy who would kill without regret, and he turned to see the boy frozen in his bag. Naruto walked up to it and slowly undid it. The boy looked at him.

"Kill me if you want. I've lost the reason to live."

Naruto growled.

"Do you even know what you're saying? Until you've died and seen what the other world is like, I suggest you reconsider that."

"Have you died?"

"Twice."

The boy looked up at Naruto's angish filled eyes and could tell he wasn't lying. He nodded slowly and Naruto picked him out of the bag.

"I wonder what we should do with you? Do you have any particular place you want to go?"

The boy though for a moment before he looked at Naruto.

"I... I don't know..."

Naruto thought for a moment before smiling.

"I happen to know a shop around here where one of Raiga's subordinates used to live with his mother. I've sent him back there yesterday."

The boy looked up at Naruto hopefully.

"Which one?"

"Karashi. By the way, I still haven't asked you your name yet."

"Ranmaru..."

Naruto smiled.

"Hey Ranmaru. I'm Naruto."

Ranmaru nodded as Naruto took Ranmaru back with him to the dig site. Naruto saw everyone had gathered around the dig site and Naruto hurried over to see what the discovery was. When he got there, he managed to see that their client was slowly picking away around a fossile. Naruto ddin't recognise it so he turned to the man next to him.

"What is that? I've never seen anything like it!"

The man didn't take his attention off it for a moment.

"None of us know. It may be a new undiscovered species."

Naruto nodded silently and looked back at the excivation. Naruto decided to ask his alter-ego.

_'Oi, furball. Seen that one before?'_

_**'I'm old, kit, but I'm not THAT old.'**_

_'Could have fooled me.'_

The fox sulked as Naruto went back to looking at it. Their client wiped his brow as he finally separated the fossil from the rock. He picked up the bag next to him and placed the fossil in it. He slowly got up, his back cracking from being hunched over for the time he had been there. He looked up at them and sighed.

"Now all we have to worry about is Raiga..."

"Oh, I delt with him."

Everyone now noticed that Naruto had returned. Their client looked up surprised.

"Delt with him?"

"He couldn't beat me, so he killed himself as I knocked him off the cliff with a Rasengan. You'll be safe from any more Nukenins."

The man nodded and smiled.

"Thanks, Naruto. We owe you a debt we can't repay..."

"No, preserving these fossils and putting them on display is more than enough reward for me."

The man smiled as he walked up the wooden plank ramps and came next to Naruto, noticing the boy on his back.

"Who's that?"

Naruto looked over his shoulder.

"This is Ranmaru. I'm taking him to the Curry of Life shop. Oh, and please send a letter to Konoha if you find anything else interesting, ok?"

The man nodded and smiled.

"Thanks for your help. I really hope we meet again."

"So do I."

Naruto gathered the pay for the mission and headed to the Curry of Life shop to find Karashi working over the stove. He opened the door and came inside, waving at Karashi.

"Oh, hey Karashi. Seems you listened, that's good."

An old woman came around the corner with a ladel in her hand.

"Oh my, you're Naruto, aren't you?"

Naruto nodded.

"I am. May I ask your name?"

"Everyone calls me Sanshou-Baasan."

Naruto smiled.

"Pleased to meet you. You wouldn't happen to mind if I dropped anothr person off here to stay, would you?"

Sanshou-Baasan looked at the boy.

"Oh my, he doesn't look too healthy. Karashi, how much longer is the curry going to be?"

Karashi looked up from the pot.

"It's ready now."

Karashi took a ladel and put the curry onto a plate that had steaming rice on it, before putting it on the counter.

"Eat up, Ranmaru."

Naruto put Ranmaru on the stool and begun eating. After the first mouthful, Ranmaru's eyes widened as he began shoveling it down.

Naruto smiled as he turned to Karashi.

"Could I get a plate of it too? Lee exclamed it saved his life, so I know it's got to be good."

Karshi nodded, scooping some rice out of the steamer and ladeling another dolop of the black curry onto the plate. Karashi put the plate down and smiled. Naruto sat down and put his hands together, muttering 'Itadakimasu' before taking his first bite. Nartuo chewed a few times before his eyes widened considerably. Naruto's face began to tint red around the cheeks as he finished the mouthful.

"Wow. This is rather hot..."

Naruto motioned his Genin to take a seat, and Karashi severed them all plates. They took one bite before their faces turned pink, and began sweating before they cried out. They fell off their chairs, twitching. Naruto stared at them.

"Is it really that hot?"

Kouji nodded slowly. Naruto shrugged and went back to eating. He polished off the plate before he had one final request.

"Karashi, I know Lee would be really thankful if I could bring him back a box of the stuff. It wouldn't be too imposing to ask for one would it?"

Karashi smiled shaking his head.

"No. I want to see if Lee thinks I've lost my touch."

Karashi got a plastic container and filled the bottom half with rice, putting a healthy dolop of the curry ontop and sealing it. He wrapped it in cloth before handing it to Naruto. Naruto accepted it.

"Thanks. Karashi, Ranmaru, work hard, ok?"

They both nodded and Naruto waved goodbye to them, walking out, followed by his still recovering students back to Konoha. By the end of the day, they had arrived back at Konoha. Naruto smiled at them.

"I want you all to meet me at the hotsprings tomorrow morning for training at 8am. Well done, guys! I have to go and do the paperwork, so enjoy the afternoon off."

They waved and left Naruto to file his report and go home.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Day After Training:**

Naruto had just finished teaching his team the water walking exercise and was going to go sit on his dad's head on the Hokage monument. He saw Iruka with his class and waved.

"Iruka-Sensei!"

Iruka looked up and waved over to him.

"Naruto! Could you come here for a moment?"

Naruto nodded and stood next to Iruka.

"So, Iruka-Sensei. What are they learning about?"

Iruka smiled as he looked at the monument behind him.

"I'm showing them the Hokages. Everyone, this is Uzumaki Naruto. He knows a lot about the Hokages. Naruto, would you like to explain to them?"

Naruto nodded and smiled, as the kid's attention shifted from Iruka to Naruto.

"Hey guys. Well, as you know, the Hokage is the leader of Konoha. Up there are the faces of the first four Hokages. We have a fifth who was instated not long ago, so they haven't put her face up there yet. Starting from the left is the Shodaime. He was the man heralded as the strongest ninja of his time who ended the great war and founded Konoha. To his right is the Nidaime, who took over the position of Hokage after the Shodaime died. To his right is the Sandaime. Sandaime is still alive, and has only recently given up his position as Hokage. He is called the professor because of his natural intelligence and affinity for all types of jutsus. To his right is the Yondaime. If he had lived for a few years longer, he would have easily become the most powerful man of all time. He's also my dad."

Everyone's eyes widened at this as Naruto continued on.

"Although her face isn't up there yet, the Godaime Hokage is Tsunade. She is hailed as the best medic of all time."

A girl put her hand up.

"Naruto-San, who's the Rokudaime?"

Nartuo smiled at them.

"No one yet."

Iruka chuckled.

"Not yet, but class, you're most likely looking at him right now."

They turned back to Naruto and as a group went 'ehhh?'

One boy doubted him.

"You're only a bit older than us! You can't be as strong as them!"

Naruto sighed but smiled at the boy.

"I know people who are younger than you are and who are already Chunin. Don't underestimate someone for any reason. Remember, you live only once. Don't take anything in your life for granted. But remember this. No matter what you do in life, remember to protect those important to you."

One girl called out to him.

"Those important to you?"

Naruto nodded.

"Those you accept, believe, and love from your heart. Do you have anyone like that?"

She nodded.

"My mother and father, and although I hate him sometimes, my brother."

Another girl called out to him.

"Do you have any people like that, Naruto-San?"

Naruto nodded.

"My wife, Yukiko-Chan, my friends and also... everyone in this village."

They stared at him in disbelief, many mouths hanging open to illistrate the fact. Iruka smiled at Naruto as he looked up at the face of his dad.

"Just like my dad did."

Iruka looked at Naruto in admiration.

"You've really come far in four years Naruto."

Naruto laughed.

"Yeah. Four years ago, I was still the 'dobe' of the academy..."

The students looked completely dumbfounded. He was still in the academy four years ago, but he was a Jounin already? Naruto looked at them.

"Apparently, the only thing stopping me from getting the place on the monument next to my dad was that I haven't trained a Genin team or raised an apprentice. Speaking of teams, here they are now. Oi!"

The three were passing by and looked over and when they heard Naruto, smiling at him.

"NARTUO-SENSEI!"

Naruto laughed as they came up to him. They stood in front of him.

"Some of you might remember Kouji, Hibari and Daichi from the previous graduating class. This is my Genin team, Team 7."

The Genin looked at their former lower classmen as Iruka turned to Naruto.

"Thanks for that, Naruto."

"No problem, Iruka-Sensei."

Naruto turned back to them.

"Remember. Take nothing for granted. You only realise how great things in life actually are after you die."

Naruto walked away with his team, the academy students still staring at his back in awe.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A Week Later:**

Team 7 had past Naruto's training program, so when he met them the next day, he smiled.

"Ok guys, you've all past the training. From today onwards, I'm going to prepare each of you for the Chunin Exams next year. By the time they come around, I'm confident all three of you will be more than ready for it. Today, I'm going to teach you one new jutsu each."

Naruto held up fifteen pieces of apparently normal paper. Naruto smiled at their lack of knowledge.

"These are far from ordinary pieces of paper. They are from trees that have been nurtured and fed with chakra, giving them special properties. Each tree's paper has a diferent type of property, depending on the elemental affinity of the person who infused the tree."

Hibari raised an eyebrow.

"Elemental affinity?"

Naruto nodded and held up all the fingers and the thumb on his free hand.

"There are five main elemental types which people can specilaise in. There are a few VERY gifted people who can make their own types, such as the Shodaime Hokage and my wife, Yukiko-Chan. However, for the rest of us, we're forced to stick with the five main or use lesser ninjutsu that are not of the five main ones. For example, my natural affinity is Katon Jutsus. This is a pice of fire infused paper. All I have to do is pump a little chakra into it and-"

The paper burst into flames, much to the suprise of his students. Naruto smiled at them.

"Remember, you have no control over what element you specialise in, so the element that reacts to you will be the element I train you in. Now, the pieces of paper I have given you are ordered like this: Fuuton on top, Katon next, then Suiton, Doton and finally Raiton. All you have to do to get the card to react is pump a little chakra into it, however, the elemental pieces that you are not suited for will not react. What you are looking for in each elemental piece is something different. Fuuton will be cut cleanly in half, Katon will burst into flames, Suiton will become saturated, Doton will turn to rock and disintergrate, and Raiton will crumple. Try it guys."

They each took a piece of paper, the Fuuton and closed their eyes and channeled a bit of chakra into it. Kouji and Hibari got no results, but the piece of paper in Daichi's hands split cleanly in half. Naruto smiled at him.

"Fuuton for Daichi. Keep going you two."

The other two took out the Katon piece and tried again. Same result, so they kept going. Hibari and Kouji moved onto the Katon card. Naruto was ready for what happened when Kouji's card burst into flames, which he dropped terrified that it would burn his hand

"Katon for Kouji."

Hibari went back to her stack and tried Suiton, which became saturated. Naruto nodded unconciously, vaguely aware that the Genins were looking at him. Naruto turned back to them.

"I thought as much. Hibari, Suiton was the first jutsu type that the Nidame specialised in. It wasn't a well known fact, but Nidaime not only had unprecedented control of water, but he also had an array of very powerful Genjutsu."

Naruto looked back at Daichi, wanting to confirm something.

"Daichi, I want you to try the Doton card for me."

Daichi nodded and channeled his chakra into the Doton card, and to his suprise, it turned to rock and disintergrated. Naruto smiled.

"I really shouldn't be suprised that you can specialise in two types already, Daichi."

Daich looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Why not, Naruto-Sensei?"

"Well, your family specialise in poison jutsus, right?"

Daichi nodded.

Naruto looked at each of them individually, thinking of a way to put this.

"I want you guys to think about something. I've told you the five major elements, but where do you think elemental types such as Mokuton, Shiton, Hyoton and so on come from?"

The Genin thought about this. Clearly none of them knew, so Naruto curled the corner of his lips up and looked at Daichi, giving them a hint.

"Daichi, the answer is closer than you think."

Daichi's eyes furrowed into further concerntraition before he looked at Naruto.

"Do they come from... Mixing the major elements?"

Naruto smiled widely and continued.

"Exactly. There are many different lesser elements that are capable of being made if you can specialise in more than one element. Let's take Mokuton for example. What do trees require to grow?"

Hibari answered without thinking.

"Water, soil and sunlight..."

Naruto nodded and continued the explination.

"Sunlight isn't exactly an element, but the first two are correct. Water and earth. Now, people like my wife and the Shodaime Hokage have multiple specialisations that let them use Mokuton jutsus. To make things simpler, let's take the Shodaime. He was a double elemental specialist in Doton and Suiton. If you just use a Doton and then a Suiton jutsu after it, nothing really dramatic like trees sprouting from the ground would happen. However, what if you were to use a Doton jutsu in, say, your left hand, and a Suiton in your right hand at the same time and combine them into a single jutsu? For example, Daichi, every time you use a poison jutsu, you are unconciously combining Doton and Fuuton elemental attacks together to do it, which is why you find them very taxing on your chakra right?"

Daichi nodded, and Kouji looked at Naruto in excitement.

"Neh, Naruto-Sensei, what elements do you specialise in?"

Naruto smiled at Kouji's enthusiasm.

"A very unusual pair. Katon and Fuuton. My ultimate jutsu, the Ryusei no Jutsu is pretty much the result of what happens when you combine both elements into one at the highest level. I could technically give it a completely new elemental name, but I think it's current name is fine. However, if you can use one of the lesser elements, it's usually something that runs in the family, almost a Gekke Genkai, and in some cases, it can be used for one. Despite the fact that only one of the cards react to you two does not in any way mean that you will specialise in only one element. In fact, I would be very worried if several years from now another one of the cards still won't react to you."

They both nodded and Naruto decided to start wrapping the theory lesson up.

"Before I start teaching you guys the techniques, I need to expolain one last thing for each of you. A Zero is a term we use with someone who hasn't had his or her elemental type checked. Zero's are also the people who have no affinity for any major element, or have yet to awaken their speciality."

The three of them nodded slowly..

"However, being a Zero has major advantages over specialization, at least initially."

Hibari voiced the three's opinions.

"How so, Naruto-Sensei?"

Naruto looked up at the clouds for a moment.

"It means that you cannot use any of the many sub elements with the effiiency that Daichi will be able to use Fuuton, Doton and poison jutsus yet, however, there are other areas in Ninjutsu, as well as Taijutsu and Genjutsu that you can specilaise in."

He turned back to them.

"For example, Hibari, I can tell that with your perfect chakra control and your keen detection sense for Genjutsus, you could easily be a Genjutsu specialist, which most villages have very few of, meaning that if you play your cards right, few people will be able to even get close to you let alone attack you once you're strong enough."

Hibari nodded slowly and Naruto turned to Kouji.

"Now, Kouji, you specialise in Katon jutsus. They don't always go hand in hand, but people who can specialise in Katon jutsus at such an early age tend to have an unusually large chakra capacity, and you're no exception. Your chakra capacity is well beyond anything a Genin should be capeable of. Iruka always harped on about how you 'should improve your chakra control', right?"

Kouji nodded and Nartuo continued.

"Forget he said that. I want you to work on increasing you chakra capacity. Once it's at a decent level, THEN worry about chakra control. You'll find that you'll be able to use double what you normally could when you fix your control, but I think a bigger capacity would be in your best interests at the moment, especially for the jutsu I'm going to teach you. After today's training, I'm going to introduce you to a friend who knows an excellent way of doing it. However, for now, I'm going to teach you all something to get started. We'll start with relatively small jutsus, and work our way up."

Naruto turned back to Daichi.

"Daichi, which element would you like to start with? Doton or Fuuton?"

Daichi thought for a moment.

"Doton."

Naruto thought of a jutsu before he nodded, his mind set. Naruto turned to Hibari.

"Hibari, have you been growing your hair like I asked you to?"

Hibari nodded.

"Well, I'm going to teach you how to turn your hair into armour harder than steel that can deflect arrows fired from point black range."

Hibari stared wide eyed at him. By now, she'd believe just about anything he told her. Naruto turned to Kouji.

"As for you, Kouji. I have a jutsu that suits you perfectly. I'm going to teach you Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Kouji stared at him.

"You mean solid clones?"

"Yeah. Kage Bunshin is a Jounin level technique that takes a large amount of chakra, as you have to split your chakra evenly between each clone."

Kouji nodded. Naruto turned back to the other two.

"Ok guys, I'm going to teach you the basics of the jutsus and then move between you to help you."

Naruto turned to Daichi.

"Daichi, Doton jutsus are fairly common, and also are much easier to perform that Fuuton jutsus. The one I will be teaching you is called Doton: Doruki Gaeshi. There aren't really any hand seals, so just slam your palms onto the ground like this-"

Naruto slammed his palms onto the ground, and the three Genin watched in interest as the ground in front of Naruto began cracking in the shape of a rectangle, which promptly flipped itself into an upright position.

"And channel your chakra into the ground to cause it to crack and then use your chakra to flip it upo. This is used as a shiled and once mastered, can deflect a suprising amount of damage."

Daichi noded and started trying, going for a big wall, which crumbled before it even got upright. Naruto turned to Hibari.

"Hibari, let your hair out."

Hibari took it out of the bun and waited for Naruto's instructions.

"Ok, your chakra capacity at the moment is far to low to learn most Suiton jutsus. I could teach you one, but I can garuntee that it would use up all your chakra, so I'll teach you a jutsu that relies on chakra control. Hari Jizou requires you to concentraite your chakra to the roots of your hair, and attempt to induce the hair to grow and harden. There are no hand seals, but if done correctly, your hair will lengthen. However, you control it's length, direction of growth and density. Try it."

Hibari nodded and closed her eyes as she tried to grow her hair using chakra. It shifted slightly, but didn't grow. Naruto turned to Kouji.

"Kouji, there is a single hand seal for this, but it's not one of the usual 12. Cross your fingers over each other, and try to channel your chakra into your clone. Start with one clone and work your way up."

Kouji nodded and tried, making a very unusable looking clone that bore a resemblance to one of Naruto's regular Bunshins. Kouji sweat dropped as did the other two, but Naruto smiled.

"Looks like one of my regular Bunshins."

All three looked from the clone to Naruto. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't I tell you? I can't do regular Bunshin. Never could."

They didn't believe it. Their teacher who had defeated the Kages in battle couldn't do a regular Bunshin? Naruto sighed.

"That's why I failed the Academy finals three years in a row. On the fourth year, I past by creating 100 Kage Bunshins."

They gawked at him. 100? Few Jounins could create that many! Seeing they still didn't believe him, Nartuo sighed.

"Alright, alright, I'll prove it to you."

Naruto formed a ram seal and concerntraited.

"Bunshin no Jutsu."

There was a puff of smoke beside him as a clone looking very like Kouji's Kage Bunshin laid there. Naruto sighed.

"Still can't do it..."

The others sweat dropped. Naruto dispelled it and sighed, before seeing the others were unsure of what to make of it. He looked at them with a raised eyebrow, jupming off the top of his little seat on the rock and looked at them.

"I don't think the idea of this lesson was to stare at me, or did it change suddenly?"

The Genins recovered from their daze and began trying to perform it. Naruto walked in between them, giving them subtle pointers. By the end of the day, they were making decent progress with their individual jutsus. Naruto called them over to him and decided to tell them one last thing before they left.

"Guys, there's another reason I'm teaching you different types of jutsus. By the time I enter you into the Chunin exams, each of you will have one major strength and a weakness. However, each of your weaknesses will be covered by another one's strengths. No sane Sensei would leave you with one area where you would be absolutely destroyed in if the enemy found out about it, but I will not make you perfect in every sense. Daichi, I'm training you to be the Ninjutsu user of this team, as well as the closest thing to a leader this team has."

Kouji became sullen at the prospect, but Naruto put a hand on his shoulder.

"Kouji, I said the CLOSEST thing to one. He will not be ordering you or Hibari around while he sits back and does nothing. Hibari, you will eventually become this team's support, specialising in Genjutsu and posibly healing jutsus. Kouji, you're the raw powerhouse of this team, as well as the stratagist. Your job, is to essentially come up with ways to suprise the enemy and then help set them up. I know you specialise in pranks, so this is perfect for you. If the trap fails, you're the one who will be going in there using a mixture of both short range Ninjutsu and Taijutsu while the other two back you up. By the time the Chunin exam rolls around, there will be few Genins who could match your speed."

They all nodded slowly. What Naruto said made a lot of sense. Each of them had a weakness in their specialties, but the others covered their weakness with their strengths. Naruto felt a familiar presence coming into their training field, and turned to their guest.

"Hey Lee."

Lee walked over to them.

"You called for me, Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto nodded, getting a glint in his eye which Lee noticed.

"I need to increase the chakra capacity of one of my students. Show them how you did it."

Lee nodded, bending down and removing the weights from around his ankles. All three Genin stared at the weights, then at Lee, then at Naruto. Naruto smiled at Lee.

"Drop them."

Lee dropped them, and much to the shock of the Genin, the weights crashed into the ground, sending huge plumes of dust up into the sky. The Genin stared at the quickly clearing dust to see two very deep holes in the ground that were shaped like weights. They looked at Lee in disbelif and cringed as Lee did his 'Nice Guy Pose', teeth sparkling in the afternoon light, which creeped them out even more than his massive eyebrows, bowl cut and tacky green spandex suit. Naruto laughed, causing all of them to look at him.

"Lee, how much do they weigh now?"

Lee smiled at him, and much to the three Genin's relief, his teeth didn't sparkle.

"500 pounds, Naruto-Kun."

The Genin face faulted. 500 POUNDS? He'd walked so causally up to them as a normal person would, and then removed 500 POUND weights as if it was nothing? Naruto smiled at them as they slowly recovered.

"I'm not going to start you on 500 pounds Kouji, but I will start you on something that will be uncomfortable, and gradually work your way up. It'll be many years before you can wear those-"

He pointed to the holes in the ground to emphasise his point.

"And not break your legs."

Naruto turned to Hibari.

"One last thing, Hibari. I know you're on a diet to 'look good', however, if you want to continue as a Kunoichi, you will have to stop the diet. I don't mean eat until you become fat, but I mean eat a healthy diet. The fact that you're tourturing your body to 'look good' prevents you from progressing much further than this. Using weights on you at this moment would cause more stress than your body can handle. Also, I think I need to get you to talk to my wife. She's much better at that stuff than I am."

Hibari really didn't like the idea, but Naruto smiled at her.

"Trust me, it's worth it."

Hibari decided to trust Naruto on this one and slowly nodded to show it. Naruto turned back to Lee.

"Lee, where did you get your weights?"

Lee smiled at the memory.

"I got them from Tenten-San's weapon shop. They have a variety of types. Apparently, a new type of weight has just come in which relies on chakra to adjust the weight."

Kouji, being the inquisative guy he was, had to enquire about why Lee wasn't wearing these new weights.

"Lee-Sensei, why don't you use them?"

Lee smiled at Kouji, but Naruto could tell it was one of his sad smiles.

"I have never been able to produce chakra except when I open three or more of the celestial gates."

The Genin stared at Lee gobsmacked.

"No.. No chakra?"

Naruto nodded.

"That's right. He can only use Taijutsu, however, he's specialised so deeply into Taijutsu that he's easily a match for just about any Jounin in this village. Combine that with the fact that he has a natural tallent for opening the celestial gates, he has some incredible moves that are far more powerful than any I can manage without opening my gates."

The three Genin nodded slowly, as Lee did a 'Nice Guy Pose' to try and illistrate the point, making the Genin shudder. Lee decided now was the perfect time for a speech.

"You three are in the springtime of your lives! Seeing such strong burning youthful passions makes me want to try even harder!"

The three Genins were at a complete loss. The word 'unique' didn't even suit this guy. Naruto must have seen their reactions because he chuckled.

"Wait until you see his Sensei and their younger counterpart."

At the mention of the other two, Lee did one of the closest things to a jutsu he could. His eyes started burning with an unquenchable fire as he pumped his fist.

"Yosh! Gai-Sensei and Gai-Kun would enjoy seeing the burning fires of youth burn so strongly in you!"

By now, all three Genin were hiding behind Naruto, scared witless of this... Person. Naruto just sighed as he waited for the fires in Lees eyes to slowly settle before he resumed conversation.

"Lee, would you have a moment tomorrow so we can get some new weights for Kouji?"

Lee nodded.

"I have a few hours away from my team tomorrow. You know where Tenten-San's shop is?"

Naruto nodded.

"Meet me there at 10am."

Naruto nodded again.

"Sounds good. See you then. Thanks for this, Lee."

"No problem, Naruto-Kun."

Lee began to jump off through the trees faster than the Genin thought was possible. Naruto turned to the three.

"Meet me here at 8 am. Daichi, I'll leave a Kage Bunshin to train you. I'll send another with Kouji while the real me will take Hibari to see my wife"

They nodded and Naruto waved at them as he 'poof'ed back to his house, leaving his Genin's to make their own way home.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**A/N:** I didn't do as long a chapter as I normally would have, but I'm going to slowly start working my way back to the normal length chapters. Sorry to keep you all waiting for so long. Until next time my avid readers!

Ja ne,

Specula.


	9. Rookie 9 Reborn

**A/N:** Yo! It's been a while since I updated this fic. At the end of last chapter, I wrote 'meet at the Hokage Office tomorrow at 8am'. I knew I had something planned, but now I can't even remember what it was… I've even slipped out of the mindset I needed to be in to keep Naruto in character for this fic. That's how long it's been. Also people, if you're not going to read my topic on NarutoFan, then let me sum up the Original Post for you:

No, I am **not** abandoning this fic, or any others for that matter. I've simply been going through a time of dramatic change. Big fight with family, moving out of home, starting full time work, and working on all four storylines at once would mean that I've been somewhat… Busy as well as tired, to say the least.

Thanks to Kyuubi no Yoko 9 for Beta'ering.

Legend:

_'...Thoughts...'_

"...Japanese..."

_"...English..." _

**_'...Bijuu Thoughts...'_**

**"...Bijuu Talking in Japanese..." **

**_"...Bijuu Talking in English..." _**

**&&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&**

The Return of The Bijuu:

Chapter Seven:

Rookie Nine Reborn:

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&**

**Next Morning, ****8am**

All three Genin turned up to their training ground to see Naruto waiting for them. He smiled at them and waved.

"Hey guys."

"Ohaiyo, Naruto-Sensei."

Naruto created two Kage Bunshins and sent them to stand next to Kouji and Daichi. Naruto smiled and looked at the one next to Kouji.

"I need you to take him to Tenten's family weapon shop."

The clone nodded and left with Kouji while the real Naruto turned to the one with Daichi.

"And I need you to stay here and help Daichi train."

Daichi turned to Naruto with a rather annoyed expression on his face.

"Naruto-Sensei, why do Kouji and I only get a clone?"

Naruto smiled at Daichi.

"Because if I sent a clone to do a job for me that involved my wife, she wouldn't exactly be happy with me."

Naruto smirked as he thought of the was she would have 'tortured' him if he had done that. Daichi nodded and turned to the clone as they began some simple Taijutsu sets to war up. The real Naruto turned to Hibari.

"Let's go."

Hibari nodded and followed Naruto through the streets to the wealthier part of town. Naruto stopped outside a house and opened the door with a key.

"Yukiko-Chan?"

Hibari could smell delicious scents wafting from what she assumed was the kitchen when she heard a feminine voice.

"Yes, Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto lead Hibari into the kitchen where Yukiko was slicing up some vegetables. Hibari froze when she saw her. This was Naruto's wife? As if to unconsciously illustrate the point, Naruto walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her stomach leaned his head on her shoulder. She was possibly the most beautiful woman Hibari had ever seen. Her skin was tanned and her muscles showed she was not a slacker by any stretch of the imagination. She was well endowed in all areas that 'mattered'; Hips, chest and thighs. Her aqua blue hair came down to her waist and was done in a pony tail. When she turned to face the third person present, Hibari's eyes widened. Like Naruto, she had slits for pupils and fangs. However, this just gave her a more attractive look that would definitely invoke a dark carnal reaction in men similar to what a succubus could. Yukiko raised an eyebrow at Hibari.

"You weren't kidding when you said she was malnourished… I don't know how she could torture her body like that."

Yukiko smiled and showed off her fangs before putting the vegetables into the pot and turned the heat down to let them boil slowly. She turned to Naruto and gave him a look. Naruto nodded.

"I'll be upstairs working on seals. Call me when you've finished."

Yukiko nodded and Naruto left the two women to talk about things. Yukiko turned to Hibari and sighed.

"Let me guess. You want to 'look good' for a certain guy, right?"

Hibari blushed slightly and nodded.

"Trust me on this; trying to diet to 'look good' will have the opposite effect on guys. Only the really shallow ones will go for you."

Hibari nodded and listened to everything Yukiko said; blushing slightly at how frank she was when she mentioned certain parts of the female anatomy like it was just a regular conversation. After the talk, Hibari still had slight doubts. Yukiko seemed to sense this and motioned her to follow her. Once they stepped outside, Yukiko looked around and then smiled at Hibari.

"You may have perfect chakra control, but without stamina, you will never be able to do something like this."

Yukiko closed her eyes before thrusting her fist forward and extending a wave of chakra infused wind to rip along the ground and hit a tree, completely decimating it. Hibari's eyes bulged. Yukiko hadn't even used a hand seal to do that, or even announced the jutsu, and it had more chakra packed into it than Hibari had when her reserves were full! Hibari stared at Yukiko who was frowning.

"I'm really getting rusty on the basics…"

Hibari face faulted. **Basics**? **Rusty**? After Hibari recovered, Yukiko turned to her.

"It's unlikely you'll ever get a body like mine… Like Naruto-Kun, I had some… Assistance in getting it."

Hibari was naturally curious.

"Assistance? Like a jutsu or something?"

Yukiko shook her head and released a small fraction of her demonic chakra. Hibari's eyes widened and Yukiko cut off the chakra.

"Apparently, Naruto-Kun, Sora and I have earnt the title of the Konoha Demon Trio or something like that. On the day we were born, all three of us had a greater demon sealed within us. On our fourteenth birthday, we absorbed them. As well as gaining their chakra, we gained several other things…"

Yukiko formed a slight look of annoyance before she returned to her usual calm look.

"Such as fangs, slitted pupils, greatly improved physique, a secondary chakra source…"

Yukiko grimaced and formed several hand seals before touching her palm to her head and looking somewhat relieved and annoyed at the same time.

"And an annoying voice in your head that doesn't know when to stop demanding you kill people left right and centre as well as make extremely perverted suggestions that involve a certain blond."

Hibari sweat dropped and Yukiko turned to her, smiling as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

"Well, Hibari, I suggest you get back to your team. I might have some spare lunch for your team. I generally make more than I have to."

Hibari nodded as they went back inside. Once Hibari had started walking, Yukiko repaired the damage she had done to illustrate her point with a small Mokuton jutsu before following her. If anything, this next year would prove interesting indeed…

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**A Year Later:**

The year that followed was rather interesting for all of Konoha's newest recruits and their Senseis. All of it was spent either training or doing missions. Naruto had taken a particular interest in Sasuke's Cursed Seal. Although it was a disgusting seal, Naruto handed out credit when it was due. The seal was a damn masterpiece. Even Naruto's extensive knowledge of seals gained from his Ingan couldn't provide a complete counter to it. He even remarked to Sasuke that if Orochimaru had the Ingan when he invented this he probably would have gained the fourth level from it. Still, Naruto had promised Sasuke he'd fix it. He'd spent the next five and a half months researching as well as trying to combine different parts of seals in an attempt to reverse the Cursed Seal's effects. Half way through the year, Naruto made a rather significant breakthrough when he inspected Mitarashi Anko's seal with Yukiko's help. It seemed that both seals somehow created some sort of 'organ' in a sense that ripped chakra out of the person's system and converted it into the disgusting purple chakra seen when the seal was activated. That led to the next problem. Seals were not able to perform medical procedures. Sure, they helped medics perform them with greater ease, but by themselves, they were not capable of it. However, they were capable of sealing off chakra sources in living beings. The only problem was that sealing a chakra source tended to have rather negative effects on the target. If they only had a single chakra source, it usually meant death or something that usually left them wishing for it. Even if he sealed the Cursed Seal, it'd probably mean would have to relearn her chakra control from scratch. Since Sasuke's was sealed before it ever took root properly, it wouldn't be as hard or have the kind of side effects that Anko would have. And then there was the final problem. Orochimaru had left a very small part of his own soul inside the seal as a safety measure as well as giving the barer whisperings of promised power. By the end of the year, Naruto had the answer. If he could seal off the curse seal's chakra converting power, and then the part of Orochimaru's soul at least temporarily, he would be able to perform a simple seal to remove the seal from its barer all together. It took him twenty four hours to combine all three seals into one. Now all that was left was to perform it. However, from the amount of power that would be released, it would probably be best to perform it in a wide open space. A few mornings before the Chuunin Exams were due to begin, he appeared before Tsunade.

"Tsunade-Obaachan, I finally figured out the cure for the Ten no Juin."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at Naruto. It was not exactly a closely guarded secret of Konoha that Naruto was working on a cure for the seals.

"I suppose you need something from me."

Naruto nodded.

"I need a wide open space like the plaza square and enough ANBU to stop people interfering."

Tsunade looked shocked. Getting rid of the seal would need that much space? Still, Naruto did not make requests unless it was absolutely necessary. Tsunade nodded and got out of her chair.

"I'll have the ANBU there in 15 minutes. I want to see this for myself."

Naruto nodded and dismissed himself to find Sasuke and Anko to get things underway.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**15 Minutes Later, ****Plaza Square**

People had seen all ANBU forces mobilise and head towards the centre of town, which was rather unusual. There had been no explosions or chakra spikes, which would mean that something big was happening. The majority of people, including those visiting for the Chuunin Exams since Konoha had insisted that it be allowed to host once again, decided to see what was up. What they didn't expect to see was that the entire plaza square was ringed by ANBU. However, what really caught their surprise was what they were blocking. They could see a group of Kage Bunshins setting up some sort of barrier of seals around him. In the centre was probably the real one along with someone they recognised as an Uchiha. The Uchiha had no shirt on and the blond with him was discussing something with him. The blond looked up from his discussion and caught the Kage Bunshins' attention.

"How much longer, guys?"

Most of them indicated another few minutes, but one grunted at him.

"Do you know how hard this is? I'd like to see you do this!"

Another clone smirked.

"Ha! I've got talent, unlike you guys!"

The real Naruto turned to see that the particular Kage Bunshin had completed his preparations and gave him a deadpanned look.

"How can you have more talent than us? You **are** us."

The Kage Bunshin looked rather sheepish.

"Good point…"

Every single person present sweat dropped. After another thirty seconds or so, the Kage Bunshins that were walking around turned back to the real Naruto.

"We've set up the containment barrier."

Naruto nodded.

"Activate it."

They all nodded and formed a single half ram seal as a shield of chakra formed around them. Some got slightly worried glances but one of the Kage Bunshins who set up the barrier looked unconvinced.

"Is this barrier really going to work?"

Naruto looked at him.

"You tell me. You created it."

It seemed that around his clones, Naruto was a rather different person. The clones huffed and the ones that created the barrier dispelled, leaving the real Naruto with five Kage Bunshins spaced evenly around the perimeter. Naruto looked at them.

"How's the elemental manipulation going?"

All of them gave the go ahead to show they were ready and Naruto nodded, closing his eyes.

"Sasuke, this will probably hurt quite a bit. Hold on, ok?"

Sasuke nodded slowly as the five Kage Bunshins formed a Hebi Seal and began focusing chakra for their part of the jutsu. In front of each clone, a different coloured human sized flame appeared. People noticed it was the colour of each of the five main elements. The real Naruto began forming a long chain of hand seals, many of which no one recognised. Naruto's eyes shot open as he formed the final seal and announced the jutsu.

"Fuuinjutsu Ogi: Juin Jouin!"

Everyone's eyes widened considerably as the five flames almost doubled in size and then began to form lines of strange flaming runes that were the same colour as the fires they originated from leading to each of the other flames as well as towards Sasuke. Sasuke screamed in pain as Naruto put his palm onto the crook of his neck and purple smoke began to stream out from under Naruto's palm. The amount of smoke quickly doubled as Sasuke was surrounded in a purple aura that exploded off him, making everyone stumble back as it collided with the barrier, which buckled under the strain. The purple smoke left by the explosion finally cleared to reveal that the intricate lines of runes as well as the fires and the Kage Bunshins were no where to be seen. Everyone saw Sasuke fall to the ground, unconscious as Naruto straightened and released the barrier. Tsunade and Jiraiya quickly rushed in to check on both participants. Tsunade immediately check on Sasuke to make sure he was still alive while Jiraiya stared at Naruto.

"Naruto, not even Arashi knew that one with his fourth level-"

Jiraiya stopped mid sentence as he saw Naruto's level three Ingan begin changing. The three existing triangles made way for an emerging fourth one. Once it had fully formed, the four of them were connected by a blue ring and they began spinning. Jiraiya's eyes widened. He'd been assigned missions almost constantly for the last year, so he had not heard of Naruto's endeavours to remove the Cursed Seal.

"You invented that?"

Naruto nodded slowly.

"Yeah… I guess I'm the third to get the fourth level, huh?"

Jiraiya nodded and smiled putting a hand on Naruto's head.

"You're so much like your father it's not funny."

Naruto smiled at the compliment before turning back to Tsunade.

"How is he?"

Tsunade without looking at Naruto told him her findings.

"He's suffering from near complete chakra exhaustion and is unconscious at the moment. Apart from that, he's fine. I can't detect any traces of the Cursed Seal."

Naruto nodded and smiled.

"Good to hear."

By now, the crowd was talking excitedly amongst themselves but stopped when Naruto looked up at the Hokage Monument, or more specifically the head of the Yondaime with a smile on his face.

"I've surpassed you now, right Otousan?"

Jiraiya smiled as Naruto's Ingan deactivated and he fell to one knee, finally showing his exhaustion. Manipulating five elements as well as holding up a barrier of that strength shouldn't be possible for normal people, but he'd learnt long ago that with Naruto, anything is possible. After a few moments, Naruto had recovered enough stamina to stand again. He saw Anko looking at him hopefully and he sweat dropped.

"Anko-San, I don't have enough chakra to repeat that again right now…"

Anko gave him a somewhat hurt look but smiled.

"No problem."

Tsunade smiled at Naruto. It wouldn't be long before he was ready to take her place. Once he did, she would be free to gamble and drink with no restrictions… She couldn't wait. A pair of Medic Nins came up and placed Sasuke on a stretcher before moving towards the hospital.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**3: 45 pm**** the Next Day, Outside Room 301 at the Academy:**

Kouji, Hibari and Daichi saw the door the first test of the Chuunin Exams was to take place in. They were ready for this. They pushed open the double doors and felt everyone's gaze focus on them. Just behind them, the other teams led by Sora and Yukiko came in and nodded in acknowledgment at their friends. A team from Suna walked up to them and the captain of the team extended a hand to each of them.

"You would be the three Genin taught by Uzumaki Naruto, would you not?"

They nodded and took his hand. The boy had a brown 'mop' hairstyle that hid a fair part of his face, but they could see friendly brown eyes in the small parting in the front. He wore clothes similar to what Gaara wore before he became Kazekage. Kouji nodded and smiled.

"Yeah! You wouldn't happen to be Hotaru-San's team, would you?"

The nodded. The leader of the Suna team introduced themselves.

"I'm Hojo Kousuna. To my right is my younger brother, Hojo Fusanari."

The boy nodded and flashed a smile at them and they had to stop themselves from flinching when his teeth sparkled. The Suna team seemed to notice this.

"Is something wrong?"

True to form, Gai from Yukiko's team pumped his fist and his eyes exploded into the dreaded fires of youth.

"Yosh! Fusanari-Kun's fires of youth burn brightly!"

No one had anything to say to that, but both his team mates gave him a smack to the head. Daichi turned to Fusanari and whispered to him.

"If you don't want to end up in clothing like that, talk endlessly about 'springtime of youth' and do 500 self imposed laps of Suna on your hands for losing a game of Jyu-Ken-Pou, I suggest resisting the green spandex of youth disease and those who are infected by it. We need to contain the virus to Konoha at all costs."

Those who heard it unconsciously shuddered. Going back to the introductions, Kousuna indicated to the green eyed brown haired female on his left.

"And this is Sabaku no Rina."

Rina smiled brightly at them. It wasn't that rare for people to either forsake their family names for various reasons or adopt a name that identified them as a ninja of their village if they never had one. Daichi introduced himself and his team mates.

"I'm Katayama Daichi. To my left is Matsumoto Hibari and to the right is Hayashi Kouji."

Once the Suna team had met the other two teams from Konoha, they turned back to see others glaring at them. Kousuna looked unimpressed and decided to show the others just how little he was concerned by their death glares. He turned his head towards Konoha's Team Seven.

"So, how many A rank missions have you been on since you graduated?"

Daichi smiled and picked up on the hint. He looked thoughtful.

"Well, the only one we got was to dispose of one of the former Seven Shinobi Swordsmen and his minions. Kurosuki Raiga was his name I think…"

All of the Kiri Genin in the room flinched. Raiga was known to be extremely strong and at least an upper A rank ninja. These kids had defeated him? This was insane! Kousuna smiled.

"Not bad at all. We were sent on a supposedly C rank mission which turned out to be an upper A. Some loser from Rain called Aoi showed up with your Nidaime's chakra sword. He was a joke."

The Ame Nins knew Aoi. While he wasn't anything special in terms of personal skill, he was fairly infamous for managing to steal Konoha's Nidaime's sword. They heard an explosion of smoke at the front of the room and a rather cold voice come from within it.

"We apologise for keeping you waiting. I am Hyuuga Neji, heir of the Hyuuga Branch Family and also the main examiner for this first test of the Chuunin Selection Examinations."

The smoke cleared to reveal a row of Chuunins in grey coats with a Hyuuga in a white Gi in front of them. He smirked at them in a way that made everyone who was not from Konoha shiver.

"All of you will come and get one of these tabs from me. The colour of the tab will indicate your row and the number will indicate your seat. Take one and get to your seats now."

Neji's cold tone of voice and slight smirk left no room for arguments. Once people were seated, the other examiners began handing out papers. Naruto had told them that the first test was always a paper test."

Neji tapped a piece of chalk on the board behind him.

"Listen carefully. I will say the rules for this test once and only once. However, for those of you who are incapable of remembering them, I will also write them on the board in the hopes that you are literate instead. I will not accept questions at any time during this test, is that understood?"

No one said anything so Neji began writing them on the board.

"Rule one: Each of you will start with 9 points. This test works via a subtraction method of marking. For example, if you answer one question wrong, you will have a single point deducted. Five questions wrong and you lose over half your points. Rule two: The overall pass/fail is determined not by your individual scores, but by the combined score of your team. Rule three: If you are found to be conducting any suspicious activity that could be associated with cheating, you will have two points deducted. Meaning, even if you get all the answers right, but are caught five times, you fail. However, we will not announce whether you fail or not until the end of this test. Just a piece of advice: If one of your team mates fails, so do you. This test will be done in the over the course of the next hour. Take your fate into your own hands. Now, BEGIN!"

Not a single person failed to comply. They turned over their papers and began writing, or in the case of the majority of people, staring at the pages in disbelief. What the hell kind of a test was this? They doubted any of the Genins in this room would be able to answer this! Obviously, some did and were writing without hesitation. The scribbling of several pencils increased two fold at exactly the same time. Team Seven looked at the examiners scribbling furiously on their notepads. Daichi realised instantly what was going on. They had set a small penalty for being caught cheating which would normally have you failed instantly yet they weren't going to call out those who failed until the end. It was a rough theory, but he decided it would be smart to risk losing two points each to ensure they passed this test. He noticed that neither of his two team mates had cheated yet, so he tapped his pencil on the desk three times, which his team mates picked up on. A Chuunin marked them down once each and then went back to the others. The time ticked by and eventually, everyone stopped writing. As the hour expired, Neji went back to the front of the class room. He looked over the examiners and then smiled at the Genin.

"Instead of telling you which teams failed, it seems it would be much easier to tell you which teams passed."

This struck a cord with everyone. If the implications of that were true, the majority of them had failed. The examiners stood up and called out from their clipboards.

"Team 7 of Konoha, Team 1 of Kiri, Team 10 of Suna; Pass."

"Team 3 of Kusa, Team 5 of Taki; Pass."

"Team 8 of Konoha, Team 2 of Suna; Pass."

"Team 4 of Kiri, Team 6 of Konoha; Pass."

No other examiners spoke up, so Neji turned to them.

"Those who have failed, get out."

One boy from the Falls Village spoke up.

"How the hell do you know if we failed?"

Neji smiled smugly at him.

"Because you have been caught cheating 16 times alone. Even if you hadn't, you disobeyed the first rule, therefore you fail anyway. Get out."

The boy couldn't believe his own stupidity, nor could anyone else. Everyone else who had not been told they had passed trudged out. Once the door had closed after the last person left, Neji's mood brightened considerably.

"Congratulations on passing the first test. As some of you figured out quickly, this test was set up to entice you to cheat to get answers few of you should know. To make this more believable, we planted two Chuunins in the room as a source to steal the answers off. However, those of you who looked deeper saw that no matter how well you 'cheated', we still caught you. The pass or fail of your teams relied on you 'seeing underneath the underneath'. Those who were unable to do so were failed as they lack the qualities required of a Chuunin. A Chuunin is a commander class officer who will be responsible for his or her team mates lives. A Chuunin must be able to decide if it is safe for his team to proceed or not, based on their observational and analytical abilities. All of you have so far proven that you possess some of the traits needed of a Chuunin. I wish you the best of luck in the next two tests."

At that point, the doors to the room opened and everyone turned to see a boy in black battle armour over a black long sleaved shirt and pants riding in on possibly the biggest dog they had ever seen. The boy jumped off and smirked at them, showing off his massive canines.

"Good work in cutting out the mutts, Neji. I'm Inuzuka Kiba, the second examiner of the Chuunin Selection Exams. Meet at the South Gate of Konoha at 8:30 am tomorrow morning, or I'll track you down and feed you to my companion, Akamaru."

To illustrate his point, Akamaru growled and roared at the students, who shrunk back. Neji smirked as Kiba left the room and the Genins cautiously followed out after about thirty seconds, hoping they wouldn't run into that scary guy and his beast of a dog.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**8: 30 am Next Morning at the ****South Gate**

The Genin Teams that had passed the first test had assembled at the South Gate by 8:30 am as they had been instructed. At 8:30 on the dot, the second lot of examiners appeared before them, led by Kiba. He smiled ferally at them.

"Good to see you all made it. Alright, I've never been one for long explanations, so I'll give it to you short and sweet. Each team will be given one of each of these-"

Kiba held up two pieces of what looked to be some form of fluoro green and pink cloth.

"Behind me are some of the best tracking Chuunin in Konoha. I have instructed them to track you and each time they catch you, take one of these tags. Once your team loses the two tags, you will be disqualified. Each Genin team will be given a half day head start. After that half day, the examiners will begin the hunt. These are your objectives-"

Kiba put the bars away and help up a finger.

"One: You and your team must survive in the forest around Konoha for 3 days."

Kiba held up a second finger.

"Two: In order to successfully pass, you need to keep at least one tag in your possession by 9am three days from now."

Kiba put up a third finger.

"Three: You must keep the tags visible at all times."

Kiba held up a fourth finger.

"Four: You will be given a watch per team. These watches have been synched as of 30 seconds ago and will sound an alarm when the test is over. We will know if you try to tamper with them so don't bother."

Kiba smiled at them.

"Here are the things that will disqualify you. If a team mate becomes unsalvageable through serious injury or goes missing, you fail. If you leave the fire country, you fail. If you are caught hiding either or both of your tags from plain view, you fail."

Kiba smirked at them as he pulled out a bunch of forms and handed it to the Genin along with the watches.

"These are consent forms. There will most likely be deaths in this. Personally, I'd rather not get blamed by your parents for being responsible for you kids being careless."

All of the Genin quickly skim read the consent forms and signed it, handing them back to Kiba. Kiba smirked at them confidently.

"This isn't a rule, but just a piece of advice. If you're a ninja, then act like a first rate one. You have half an hour to get your team's tags and get ready to leave. At nine am, the second test will begin."

Each team took their strips of fluoro cloth and separated them amongst their team mates in a discrete fashion. Team Seven sat down in a group huddle and discussed their plans.

"Any ideas on what to do?"

Hibari thought for a moment.

"Naruto-Sensei said that there is a hidden meaning in each part of the exam…"

Both Kouji and Daichi nodded in agreement. Jounin Sensei's were allowed to give tips and advice on the Chuunin Exams, but they were not allowed to tell them exactly what to do, even if they knew. All three of them were deep in thought when the meaning of this test hit him like a ton of bricks.

"If you're a ninja, then act like a first rate one…"

That was enough to tip Daichi over the edge as well. He smirked.

"So the aim of this test is to trick everyone. Ok guys, here's what we'll do…"

They discussed their plans for the next 25 minutes before Kiba called out to them.

"All right, 5 minutes until the exam starts. Take your positions."

All of the teams got up and went to the edges of the path leading south. Kiba looked at his watch and counted down the last 5 minutes. Right as the watch indicated it was 9:00, he looked up.

"GO!"

Not a single Genin failed to comply as all of the teams vanished from sight, leaving Kiba grinning at the prospect of chasing them down.

"And so the hunt begins…"

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**30 Minutes Later with Team 7:**

Team Seven had quickly decided that with a group of Kage Bunshins from each of them, they could form a lot of decoys that should throw the pursuers off for at least a while. Kouji smiled. The Kage Bunshins had been his idea and the other two had readily agreed that it was a good idea. Hibari, having the smallest chakra capacity of the three was only able to produce 4 Kage Bunshins and still keep a decent supply of chakra. If she hadn't taken Yukiko's advice, she wouldn't be able to even produce one. The real Team Seven ordered their clones to separate into groups of Team Seven look alikes, so that there was 5 Team Sevens in total, including the real ones. After that, the groups split up and went their separate ways.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**11 and a Half Hours Later:**

Kiba smiled as his examiners set of into the forest, the Genins' half a day head start now up.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**A Day and a Half Later:**

It was now 9am on day two of the second test. Three of Team Seven's decoys had been defeated, leaving just the real ones and one decoy group. The Chuunins had dispatched them with surprising ease and efficiency. The look on the tracker's faces when the first member of the first dispatched decoy team exploded into smoke was absolutely priceless. If they had made more decoy groups, the Chuunins would have figured out which one was the real one by the chakra spikes and also the fact that one trail split up into new groups while the others didn't. The real Team Seven could tell that there was a Chuunin behind them and they couldn't afford to stop for a rest until the exam ended. Kouji's eyes narrowed as he smelt something nearby. It was faint, but very easily recognisable. Fresh blood. Kouji shouldn't have really cared, but it unsettled him greatly. Kouji indicated the direction to his team and they changed corse.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**Not to Far Away:**

Hotaru's Genin Team had been spotted by the Ame Team. However, this Ame Team was not your average Genin Team. They had taken care of her two team mates with unnatural ease and turned to her.

"Rina, right? Our leader has asked us to bring you back with us to the Rain Village. Why not make this easy and just come with us willingly?"

Rina scowled at them.

"After what you did to my team? Not likely."

The leader of the Ame Team sighed and threw a hail of kunai and shuriken at her. Rina dodged and noticed too late that one of the Ame Team had disappeared from beside his team mates and was now directly behind her with a kunai in hand, ready to hit her with the pommel on the back of the neck. She shut her eyes and resigned herself to whatever it was they wanted to do with her at Ame when she felt the boy behind her stiffen. She opened her eyes to see that one of the Konoha Genin from Team Seven had done to him what he had planned to do to her. The Ame Nin slumped to the ground unconscious while the remaining two went on guard.

"Who are you three?"

Daichi gave them a deadpanned look.

"No point in telling you."

Daichi formed a single unusual hand seal and took a deep breath in, exhaling a stream of purple gas which filled the area. Both Hibari and Daichi picked up one of the disabled Suna Nins while they motioned Rina to follow them, which she did not hesitate to do. Kouji was right behind them, leaving the two remaining Ame Nins to try and get out of the poison cloud before they were caught by the examiners. The examiners in the general area had been drawn by the chakra given off by the poison smoke screen as well as the fresh scent of blood they left behind. Rina turned to them with a look of worry on her face.

"Why did you save us? It's unlikely we would have escaped, but at least you could have!"

Hibari shook her head.

"That's not it."

Rina looked to Hibari with a 'please explain' expression while Kouji continued.

"Not only are our countries allies, but that's what friends are for, right? To help each other out when they're in trouble."

Rina smiled.

"Arigato."

Daichi smirked.

"No problem."

Kouji looked at Daichi with a playful smirk on his face.

"Let's kick this up a notch."

Both Hibari and Daichi nodded. Kouji came up beside Rina and smirked at her.

"How much faster can you go?"

Rina looked at him.

"With my current stamina, about twice this speed for another 5 hours before I need to rest."

Kouji sighed but kept smiling.

"We need to keep going for at least another 11… Hop on."

Rina looked at Kouji with a questioning look. Hibari looked back at Rina.

"Kouji has more stamina than both of us combined. Trust me, you'll see why."

Rina shrugged and hopped onto Kouji's back. All three members of Team Seven formed a half ram seal and dispelled the chakra in their weights to dispel the weight effect.

"KAI."

All three rocketed forward, much to Rina's shock. To be able to move this quickly after taking some weight off meant that the weights were at least 100 kilos in total. The trees flashed passed them in a blur of brown and green. Kouji closed his eyes for a second before opening them.

"We're losing them. No one in front or to the sides that I can sense."

Both of them nodded in acknowledgement. One of the first things Naruto had tried to teach them was to concentrate chakra to their senses. When they got around to focusing chakra to their noses, Kouji was the only one who was able to do so beyond what was to be expected from someone of their skill level. Kouji was their team tracker because of it and they quickly learnt never to doubt his judgments when he did so. Hibari's eyes narrowed.

"We're getting close to the border."

They nodded and changed corse slightly in the direction Hibari indicated. Even with this speed, they wouldn't be able to keep up this pace for 24 hours with their… Cargo. Kouji turned to Rina.

"You wouldn't happen to have some soldier pills, would you?"

Rina nodded and reached into her ninja pouch, pulling out a small container and flipping the lid open, offering one to Kouji who took one out and threw it into his mouth, chewing several times before swallowing. He felt his energy reserves skyrocketing as he smiled.

"Thanks, Rina."

Rina smiled sweetly at him.

"No problem."

Rina passed the small container to her team mate on Hibari's back, who had returned to consciousness not too long ago. He grabbed one out for himself and then another for Hibari before passing it to the last pair who repeated the process before chucking the container back to Rina who pocketed it. Kouji checked the watch they were given at the start of this test. It was now 10 am. Only 23 hours to go…

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**Back at the ****South Gate**

Kiba was lounging against a tree, receiving reports from every tracker when they had an update through a head set that each of them had that was connected to the one Kiba wore. Apparently, there were again some infiltrators into this exam. However, unlike the last two times, these were from the Rain Country and not Oto. The first pair of trackers to find them had subdued them and was taking the trio in for questioning as to their motives. According to the reports, it seemed that the Rains' target had escaped with some help from Naruto's Genin Team and had even left the trackers eating their dust, much to the amusement of Kiba. He told all trackers to be on full alert and notify him immediately if something happened.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**10 Hours Later With Team 7:**

The effects of the pills were beginning to ware off and their chakra capacity was getting dangerously low. Daichi signalled a stop for a rest. Kouji groaned as he dropped to the floor and went straight for his pouch to reveal several bags of chips. He handed them around and everyone ripped them open and ate hungrily. However, after ten hours of pure travel, they were tired and hungry. The chips did little to change that. They couldn't afford to go hunting and at most had the luxury of a single hour to rest and eat. Rina reached into her pack and pulled out her supply of ration bars when Kouji smiled widely.

"I knew this would happen, so I brought my secret weapon!"

The others looked at him as he brought out a scroll and opened it before palming the symbols to reveal all sorts of high energy, high fat food. Right now, they didn't have the luxury of a proper meal and they needed a lot of sugar, fat and energy as a temporary replacement for the healthy food until they could sit down to a proper meal. Hibari looked at Kouji with an accusing expression.

"Kouji, where did you get that?"

Kouji grinned and chuckled.

"I saw Naruto-Sensei making them. He had a pile of them, and I asked if I could have one, so he gave me one."

Everyone nodded and dug in. If Naruto had condoned it, they weren't going to argue. After they had finished, they started taking a power sleep. Long ago, people had found that few ninjas on missions had the luxury of getting a full night's sleep, so they began experimenting with sleep. It baffled them that a short nap of up to an hour could give as much benefits as an entire night's sleep if need be and it was quickly adopted by ANBU and filtered down from there. Every ten minutes, the person on watch would wake the next person up to take over the watch. By the end of the hour, the trackers were getting closer. One of the other advantages of a power sleep is that you didn't wake up half asleep. The power sleep relied on waking up before the body entered too deep a sleep so they were up and off in under a minute. They had half a day left until this dreaded test was over…

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**6 Hours Later:**

Kouji's head shot up as he recognised a familiar scent. It was that of the members of the other Konoha Team and they were close by. Kouji smiled.

"Seems the others are still in this as well."

Everyone looked to Kouji as he changed course towards the other teams. From what he could tell, they were resting. They jumped into the small clearing and smiled at the others. Gai pumped his fist.

"Yosh! The other-"

He didn't get to finish the sentence as Daichi clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Not now, Gai. There are trackers not far away. Even if we didn't stop, they'd go after you. We have to leave and now."

The other Konoha Team nodded and got up. Together, the 12 teens jumped up into the trees and tried to survive the last 6 hours of the test.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**Four Hours Later:**

By now, they had realised that it was unlikely for any other teams to be in this general area. They had 8 trackers on them, so they could fail all four teams if they caught up. Kouji grunted in frustration. At this rate, they would lose before the end of the test. The trackers were gaining rapidly on them. Kouji reached into his pouch and pulled out a handful of explosive notes. Hibari and Daichi were doing the same. They handed one tag each to the others. Hibari explained.

"These aren't ordinary explosive tags. Regular explosive tags rely on a remote pulse of chakra to start a timer or a remote pulse to trigger a proximity detector. These use the second type to release a very thick gas smokescreen that will slow them down for a bit and confuse their senses."

Fusanari wrapped his around a kunai.

"So in other words, one we trigger them, anything that gets close will make them activate?"

Daichi nodded.

"Yeah."

Kouji held his up and smirked. This was going to be hilarious. He'd made some slight modifications to his own tags.

"Let's do this."

All of them threw their kunai with the tag wrapped around the handle backwards and armed them as soon as they hit the trunks. They turned around and kept going. Only a few moments later, they heard the hiss of a large amount of gas escaping from a confined area. Everyone heard strangled cries of things like 'oh god' and 'what is this smell'. Daichi looked confused.

"They shouldn't smell."

Kouji grinned.

"Yours shouldn't."

They turned to Kouji as he burst into laughter.

"I filled mine with a mixture of methane and sulphur."

Everyone burst into laughter as they kept going; now leaving the trackers struggling to breathe.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**With Kiba:**

Kiba heard the warning of 'explosive tags' over the head sets and then the familiar hiss of a tag activating. It exploded and the Chuunin began gagging and choking, making Kiba worried.

"Oi, what's going on?"

"This smell… _'Cough'_ Oh god, the bastards used a rotten gas bomb! _'Cough cough'_"

Kiba cringed. Among the trackers after the Konoha and Suna Teams were some Inuzuka trackers. Smelling what was essentially a concentrated fart with normal smelling wasn't pleasant, but with a sense of smell that is 1000 times more powerful than a regular person's, it's the worst possible agony. However, Kiba had to hand it to the kids. He did after all tell them to act like first rate ninjas and they'd taken his advice to heart. There was no doubt about it; these kids were going to pass no trouble.

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**8:55 am Day Three:**

All four teams were looking at their watches, counting down the final few minutes until they all passed. They had left the 8 trackers after them far behind, but they kept moving just in case. In unison, the Genin counted down.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1-"

All three watches started hissing, much to the Genin's surprise. They took them off and threw them away as the watches were covered in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, they saw one rather familiar person there.

"Iruka-Sensei!"

Iruka smiled at them.

"Yo. It's good to see you guys again. News of your little prank has been circulating through the Chuunin and Jounin. Naruto asked me to congratulate you Kouji; he said he couldn't have made a better prank himself."

Kouji beamed as Iruka smiled at him.

"Well, congratulations guys. When you left the academy, I was worried for you, but it seems that I was worrying over nothing. As of now, all of you pass the second exam. Congratulations."

Kouji groaned, making everyone look at him.

"Now we have to go all the way back…"

They chuckled but Iruka put a pulled out his headset and put it on.

"This is Umino Iruka. I have the three Konoha and one of the Suna teams with me. All of them have passed."

Iruka got an acknowledgment and he looked at them.

"Hold still for a second guys."

They looked at each other in confusion but felt themselves been pulled and they disappeared from the forest and instantly reappeared surrounded by smoke. Once it cleared, they saw that they were back in Konoha. Next to the Konoha Rookie 9 and Team Suna was a Kiri Team which they identified as Team 1. They looked extremely beat up, with multiple wounds and grazes. In front of them were the first two examiners, the Sandaime and Godaime Hokage as well as the Jounin Sensei's of each passing Genin Team. Each Jounin was looking at there team, smiles on there faces. Tsunade stepped forward and looked over each of them.

"Congratulations on passing the second test of the Chuunin Selection Exams. Some of you relied on your stealth and quick wits to escape while others relied on their sense of humour."

Tsunade gave a pointed glare at Kouji making everyone snicker. Tsunade waited for a moment for everyone to get over it and continued.

"The numbers are at the maximum upper limit that allows us to progress straight to the main matches that will be held in one month from now. If you wish to quit now, please let us know now."

No one made a move so Tsunade nodded.

"The screen behind me will randomly decide on the match ups from those of you present."

The screen behind Tsunade flashed yellow before a ladder appeared. It was a three and a half bracket ladder. The names at the bottom of the ladder started flashing before eventually stopping. Everyone saw the matches and burned them into their memories.

**First Round, First Bracket:**

_Hayashi Kouji **VS** Hyuuga Hanabi _

_Katayama Daichi** VS** Ichijo Sigure _

**First Round, Second Bracket:**

_Matsumoto Hibari **VS** Washio Suien _

_Rock Gai** VS** Hojo Kousuna_

**First Round, Third Bracket:**

_Konoha no Ren** VS** Hojo Fusanari _

_Sabaku no Rina** VS **Suzuki Tatsuya _

**First Round, Fourth Bracket:**

_Katsuragi __Akina** VS **__Shimizu__ Murasame _

**First Round, Fourth Bracket Winner VS: **

_Inokuma Naoko_

Tsunade smiled at them.

"All of you will be expected to turn up at the stadium at 8am exactly one month from today. Are there any questions?"

Apparently, there was none so Tsunade sighed.

"Well, good luck. Until next month, you are dismissed."

**&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& **

**A/N:** I really don't believe how hard it is to pull names out of a hat like this… I'm running out of names. If anyone could give me a PM with a link or a site name that has lots of unusual names like you see in the anime and manga, I'd love to hear from you. Anyway, until next time.

Ja na,

Specula.


	10. This is mostly goodbye

**A/N:** Yo! This is an all A/N chapter, but this time, it's not going to be an intermission. This is just an updated version. I've pretty much given the reins of this story to ZenNoMai  
to continue, so if you want to continue reading, go check his one out. Short, I know, but I like to try and keep things like this to the point. I kmay continue the story some time, but for now there's no time frame.

That and when I reread what was here originally, I had to smack myself because of how... Emo I sounded... God damn...

Well, take care. Synica/Specula.


End file.
